Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2007 Archive

In this issue:
- UELAC Conference 2007: "At The End of the Trail", in Windsor, May 31 - June 3
- Did You Know? Some Interesting facts about Essex County
- A New York Loyalist Remembers: Part Two
- Ancient Petitions, Henry III - James I
- Order Promotions Items for Pick-up at Council
- Canada Genealogy Site: CanadaRoots.com & Ancestry.ca
- Maps of Military Battles and Campaigns: Library of Congress
- Book of Negroes: Interview with Lawrence Hill
- Speaking of Avonmore: History, Heroes, Happenings and Humour in the Life of a (Not Very) Typical Ontario Village by Murray Barkley UE
- Loyalist Directory and Military Information
- Last Post: Bruce Prindle
- Queries
      + Haldimand Papers

UELAC Conference 2007: "At The End of the Trail", in Windsor, May 31 - June 3

The Conference Schedule, Rates and Registration form are available at our web site. A few copies of an earlier registration form with preliminary rates, which were higher, were distributed about the time of Council last fall October. In the end, the final rates were slightly lower. Before you register, make sure you are using the correct rates, which show "Full Conference" Early Bird rate of $369 and Regular rate of $409. Register now before the early bird rate expires on April 1 - only 6 weeks to go.

The Holiday Inn Select has plenty of rooms available at the special Conference Rate, and some wheelchair accessible rooms have been set aside for us too. If anyone has difficulty reserving a room, please contact {info AT uelbicentennial DOT org}. How do I email them?

...Kimberly Hurst UE, 2007 Conference Chair, Windsor, Bicentennial Branch

Did You Know? Some Interesting facts about Essex County

The first sailing ship on the Upper Great Lakes was the Griffon, which left Niagara in 1679. On board was Robert Cavelier LaSalle, hoping to gain a monopoly in the fur trade with this advanced vessel.

This ship built at Black Rock (near Niagara)

The name of the Priest that sailed with Robert Cavalier, Sieur de Lasalle was Louis Hennepin. He was a Franciscan priest of the Recollet order who sailed along with La Salle. Hennepin provided the first written description of the Detroit area. Details of this voyage can be found here.

Learn more about the Essex area at the 2007 UELAC Conference at the Bicentennial Branch web site and register today.

A New York Loyalist Remembers: Part Two

In 1879 the New York Historical Society published a remarkable manuscript which had lain unread for almost a hundred years. A History of New York During the Revolutionary War, written by Judge Thomas Jones of the New York Supreme Court, had been kept by his descendants since he had written it in the years immediately following the American Revolution.

The editor of the two-volume history, Edward DeLancey, states that Judge Jones' work "... is the only contemporary history of New York, in the American Revolution, by one who was living there at the time, and is hence as unique as it is valuable. He was, also, in virtue of his judicial office, and his dwelling within the British lines, and his being for ten months altogether a prisoner in Connecticut, a participator in some of the scenes he describes, and therefore his evidence as to the facts is important."

Jones was born into an influential Long Island family in 1731. He was a member of the Assembly of New York for 21 years and was a judge of the Supreme Court for 15 years. After the Declaration of Independence, Jones was forced to leave the court, and he returned to his family's home in Oyster Bay. Three years later his home was attacked, and he was carried off to Connecticut. His kidnapping was part of a plan formulated by the patriots of Fairfield. They needed to have a captive of sufficient rank and position to trade for the rebel General Silliman who had been captured by loyalists. Strangely, Jones and

Silliman had been classmates and friends 30 years earlier at Yale University.

After an imprisonment that lasted over the winter, Jones was finally traded for Silliman. However, Jones would be arrested three more times by rebels over the next year. Finally, in 1781, Jones, his wife, and a niece left New York for England. At the end of the Revolution, Jones was singled out along with 55 other loyalists as being one whose

property had been confiscated and who would be put to death if he returned to New ork. Between 1783 and 1788 Jones spent his time in exile writing a history recounting the tumultuous years of the Revolution in New York. He died in his house in Hoddesdon on July 25, 1792.

Jones' manuscript passed into the hands of his widow. Upon her death in 1817, it was bequeathed to his niece. She gave it to her brother in1835. Because children of the men mentioned in Jones' manuscript had not all yet died, it was thought "from a feeling of delicacy" that it was not the appropriate time to print Jones' record. Unread and unpublished, the judge's history was then given to his great-nephew in 1858. It was only after the provision of a sizable endowment by the New York Historical Society that Judge Thomas Jones remarkable history of Revolutionary New York was finally printed in 1879. Edward F. DeLancey, the editor of the history, sent a first edition of the two-volume work to Charles Weldon of Saint John, New Brunswick. How many other copies of the history found their way to Canada is not known.

And where can a genealogist or loyalist historian acquire A History of New York During the Revolutionary War? Thanks to the transcription work of Wallace Hale, the book is now available for the modern reader as a CD-ROM. By going to the Fort Havoc website at interested readers of Loyalist Trails can learn more about Judge Jones' book.

However, there are other treasures to be found at Fort Havoc. Although it specializes in primary and secondary sources for New Brunswick loyalist history, the website is well worth an hour or two of exploration. Here the viewer can discover such treasures as the Massachusetts Banishment Act, Loyalist Claims, Sabine's 'Loyalists of the American Revolution, British Officers in America, 1754-1774, New York Act of Attainder and a list of Pennsylvania Loyalists­to name but a few.

I will let Edward DeLancey have the final word on the importance of A History of New York During the Revolutionary War by Thomas Jones: "Much that is new and which has never before been printed will be found scattered through his notes."

...Stephen Davidson

I looked up the book "A History of New York During the Revolutionary War" in Abebooks. Several copies available...cheapest is $79.50 USD plus shipping of $3.75 in the USA. A valuable resource for older or out of print books. They have been a great help to me in acquiring some of my ancestors history.

...David Ricketts, O.N., UE, CIP, CPD

Ancient Petitions, Henry III - James I

You can now search and download over 14,000 images from the series of Ancient Petitions which draws together petitions addressed to the king, to the king and council, to the king and council in parliament, to the chancellor, and to certain other officers of state. The petitions include detailed information about the circumstances of the parties involved, and the conditions of the locality. These documents reveal something of the attitude to public authority in the later Middle Ages and the social conventions and political culture.

Most of the petitions are in Anglo-Norman French, although some early examples are in Latin, while English was increasingly used as the fifteenth century progressed. Most of the petitions came from England, but a significant minority were from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Aquitaine, Gascony and other parts of France.

The majority of petitions were presented by named individuals, men and women, singly or in groups. Although there are examples of petitions presented by members of the peasantry, it was more usual for petitioners to be members of the gentry, the nobility, the urban elites or the higher clergy.

In addition to petitions presented by individuals, a significant number of cases were presented in the name of communities and corporations: many examples exist of petitions presented by villages, towns, ecclesiastical institutions and mercantile associations. There are also petitions addressed from the "commons" or "people".

For more information, click here.

[submitted by Bev Loomis, Little Forks Branch]

Order Promotions Items for Pick-up at Council

We received a very good response to the notice re: Ties and Scarves. Thank you to all who sent in orders. There is a limited number of theses items remaining. When they are gone they won't be re-ordered.

If someone from your branch is attending Council meeting on March 3 in Toronto, then you can save on shipping costs. Send us your orders for in-stock items. We will ship them in bulk to Doug Grant who will take them to the March 3rd Dominion Council meeting for pick-up.

We will require 7 days notice before the meeting to fill, pack and ship the orders, so order by next Saturday Feb 24. Check the on-line catalogue or The Fall 2006 Gazette for items. For current availability of any item, please contact Noreen Stapley at {gdandy AT iaw DOT on DOT ca} how do I email her?

Canada Genealogy Site: CanadaRoots.com & Ancestry.ca

A new Canadian Genealogy site, Canada Roots, is offering three days of free access to Ancestry.ca

[submitted by Bev Loomis UE, Little Forks Branch]

Maps of Military Battles and Campaigns: Library of Congress

This category contains maps showing campaigns of major military conflicts including troop movements, defensive structures and groundworks, roads to and from sites of military engagements, campsites, and local buildings, topography and vegetation. Some of the maps are manuscripts drawn on the field of battle, while others are engraved including some that have manuscript annotations reflecting the history of the battle or campaign. A significant number of battle maps provide information about the locality that is not available elsewhere such as the location of plantations, the names of landowners in the area, the configuration of small towns and villages, and indications of prior settlement by native Americans. Click here for more.

[submitted by Joyce Stevens]

Book of Negroes: Interview with Lawrence Hill

The original Book of Negroes measures about a foot-and-a-half by a foot-and-a-half and runs just over 150 pages. Though known to just a handful of scholars, this remarkable hand-written ledger is a historical treasure. Detailing names, ages, backgrounds and often degrading physical descriptions ("stout wench"), it's the first public documentation of black people in North America ­ specifically, the 3,000 freedom-seekers who left New York for Nova Scotia and other British colonies near the end of the American Revolutionary War. In exchange for their service to the empire, Black Loyalists were promised liberty and land. What they received was little better than the circumstances they left behind: poverty, hunger, disease and servitude.

A report for CBC of an interview of Lawrence Hill, Author, Book of Negroes by Rachel Giese can be read here.

Speaking of Avonmore: History, Heroes, Happenings and Humour in the Life of a (Not Very) Typical Ontario Village by Murray Barkley UE

This new book is part history, part anecdote, and part local character and folklore, but the first two chapters, "In Search of One's German Ancestral Roots" and "The Barkleys: Their Story and Their Store", relate directly to the Palatine Loyalists and the German and Loyalist genealogy of the Barkley family. And most of the other chapters relate to Avonmore themes, institutions, and families, many of whom, like the Werts, Houghs, Shavers, and Tinkesses, have Loyalist forebears.

The first two chapters on the German Loyalists of Dundas and Stormont might be of interest to a number of Loyalists. In addition, there are chapters on Dr. Mahlon Locke and Ralph Connor, so the book is not just narrowly Avonmore.

The book is available at Barkley's Store, Avonmore (strangely enough!) and from me at mwb@glen-net.ca or P.O. Box 12, Avonmore, Ontario. K0C 1C0. It is hardcover, 315 pages, profusely illustrated, and costs $40.00. (+ $10.00 shipping & handling for mailed copies).

...Murray Barkley, UE

Loyalist Directory and Military Information

Over the last two weeks, information about Loyalists Abraham Dafoe, Matthew Elliott, Leonard Wisner, William Bell Sr., William Atkinson, Simon Wright Sr., and Peter Eamer and British Regular Hugh McKay has been added to the UELAC.org Loyalist Directory.

As well, Cal Craig has contributed from the first part of his family history/genealogy book "The Young Emigrants - Craigs of the Magaguadavic" a description of the "Young Royal Highland Emigrants", "Royal Highland Emigrants", or "The Young Emigrants" - click here for more.

Last Post: Bruce Prindle

Of Newfoundland, and formerly of Sidney Street Belleville, entered into rest at the Carbonear Hospital, Carbonear, Newfoundland on Thursday February 8th, 2007 in his 87th year. Dear son of the late Silas D. & Elizabeth Carrie Prindle (nee Ranson). Beloved husband of the late Mildred Prindle (nee-Rose). Survived by son Kenneth Prindle of Calgary, Alberta. Predeceased by sister Grace (Thompson), Brother Wesley Prindle, Half sister Vera Chappel, Ethel Yorke and Hazel Prindle.

Bruce was a member of and the Standard Bearer for UELAC Bay of Quinte Branch for a number of years. Served Overseas as Member of the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve (1942-1944).

...Brandt Zatterberg

Haldimand Papers

Are the Haldimand Papers available in the Ontario Archives in Toronto, or only in Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa?

...Irene MacCrimmon {maccrimmonirene1212 AT hotmail DOT com} how do I email her?

To protect the people who send in queries from unwanted spam email, the online edition of Loyalist Trails no longer uses direct hyperlinks for their email addresses. Simply rewrite "name AT website DOT net" as name@website.net and sent your email to that address. For example, "doug DOT grant AT insurance-canada DOT ca" is doug.grant@insurance-canada.ca. Contact Doug with questions, or to be put in touch with someone whose email address is not listed.