Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2004 Archive

In this issue:
- Branch Projects and Events
      + UELAC Promotional Items
      + Kawartha Branch at Kinmount Fair
      + Townshippers Day, Saturday, September 18, Little Forks Branch
      + Kingston Branch at Fairfield: Gutzeit House
      + Kingston & District Branch Potluck this Saturday
      + Branch 2014 Project: 100 Years, 100 Houses, Col. Edward Jessup Branch
- Queries
      + Israel or William West
      + Patriotism and/or Loyalty
      + William Fraser
      + Response to Robert Chambers query

UELAC Promotional Items

Fall has arrived and it’s time to think of warmer clothing and, yes, Christmas Gifts - only 96 days till Christmas!!

Promotions 2014 offers a wide range of items for the person wishing to get a jump on the frenzy of Christmas Shopping.

The new Limited Edition Plates ( shipping included ! ) and Licence Plate frames are perfect gifts.

EZ-Care shirts are a great gift for someone else or for you! Short sleeved shirts and Golf Shirts can be layered with sweat shirts or under your own favourite sweater. Long sleeved EZ-Care shirts work well with your favourite vest. The always popular, versatile denim shirts are a must!!! For that extra warmth needed on crisp, cool Fall days, put on one of our Jackets. Top off your outfit with a cap or bucket hat and off you go!

Valises, luggage, flags, ties, scarves and glassware are good choices for Christmas gifts as well. If something small is needed, then choose one of our Pins - UEL badge - brooch or butterfly back or Crossed Flag butterfly back.

Visit our online catalogue while relaxing at home. Save on shipping: have your orders for in-stock items picked up at the Dominion Council Meeting, October 23, 2004. All other orders will be filled after the Council Meeting

...Noreen Stapley

Kawartha Branch at Kinmount Fair

Kawartha Branch recently displayed at the Pioneer Village at the Kinmount Fair where they get an 8 ft space for a donation and unlimited free passes for volunteers and free parking on the grounds. This year we were exceptionally well received resulting in one new member and approx. 15 potential new members. Joan Lucas, our branch genealogist, manned the booth and handed out applications to those that demonstrated genuine interested. Being consistently there each year for the last 4 or 5, has, I believe, resulted in people coming to our booth prepared to discuss their lineage and on occasion bringing with them their genealogy records.

...David Kemlo, Kawartha Branch

Townshippers Day, Saturday, September 18, Little Forks Branch

We were set up in a huge 100 X 200 ft. tent in a corner shared by other historical societies and the Eastern Townships Resource Centre from Bishop’s University - along with many artisan tables throughout the tent , including CBC radio live broadcast.

Signed up one member as Associate, assisted two others who may join Little Forks, but could be very well be joining the Heritage Branch in Montreal as the gentleman lives in Westmount with his summer home out in the Magog area, and the other couple from Ottawa, but whose ancestors were in Coaticook . I welcomed them both into Little Forks Branch, but gave them the application forms and let them decide which Branch they could best serve in.

Had two sales for the book The Loyalists of the Eastern Townships of Quebec, which was put out by the Sir John Johnson Centennial Branch. One gentleman wished to buy the three volumes of Loyalist Lineages of Canada. Many others checked the books to see if their ancestor was mentioned and for those that live in the District of St.Francis they were able to check our six books covering the Church Records of sixteen religious denominations, Catholics not included - of Birth, Marriage and Deaths, 1815-1879. A busy corner of our table!

A member from the Abegweit Branch, PEI, stopped by our display and had a very interesting conversation.

I had taken along a copy of the The Loyalists Pioneers and Settlers of Quebec - A Teacher’s Resource and this proved to be quite interesting to a lady from South Carolina who is taking a history course covering the American Revolution - to the point that I gave her the copy.

I had photocopied eighteen copies of the French Loyalist brochure and they were all picked up along with a full package of English UEL hand-outs.

Of course, all was not rosy, for I did have to confront a few that tried to tell me that no Loyalists came into this area, and one went so far to tell me that no Loyalist ever fought in the American Revolution. Where is his knowledge of history!? And the meaning of the word LOYALIST?

The Potton Historical Society have tentativley booked a bus trip to visit our little school next summer. Members of their Society visited our table and after seeing the photos showing the many phases of restoration of our school building, they decided that it was a must see! I have also booked a local gentleman, who is presently teaching school up north, a town that used to be called Fort George, to share his stories of teaching with us. The children are Cree Indians and over 1000 attend the school. From what he has told me, his talk will be most interesting! He will be home at Christmas, but we shall wait until next summer to hear his stories.

Lastly, one of our members, a publisher, was selling copies of his three latest books published at the far end of our table of which we are getting a percentage of his profit for the school. Every penny counts! I must say that the beautiful colorful book, The Four Seasons in the Eastern Townships ($42) is a must buy! He has given cases to our Branch to sell, a profit too. With Christmas around the corner it should be an easy sale!

...Bev. Loomis, President, Little Forks Branch

Kingston Branch at Fairfield: Gutzeit House

On Saturday, 11 September, at the request of Bob Chadwick, Philip Smart set up a display booth for Kingston Branch, at the Fairfield - Gutzeit House in Bath. The sunny weather encouraged visitors, many of whom slowed down to chat on background. Our display table was enhanced by the proximity of the Mecklenburgh Heritage Co-operative display, a regional umbrella society. - named earlier than the county labels, named after we know who. She died in 1818.

...Philip Smart

Kingston & District Branch Potluck this Saturday

Kingston & District Branch meet for a pot luck lunch at 12.30 pm. Saturday, 25 September 2004, in the church hall of St. Paul's Anglican Church, corner of Queen and Montreal Streets, Kingston. The meeting starts shortly after 1:30 pm. Our speaker, Suzanne Pasternak who spoke to us two years ago on the topic of producing her musical, Exile, now has a video of Lake Ontario. Also, Student Alexandra Armitage, who won one of the prizes which we supplied at the Regional Heritage Fair, MacArthur College, Kingston in May 2004, will give us a brief on her project, Pirate Bill Johnson. The 25th is also Yom Kippur.

...Philip Smart

Branch 2014 Project: 100 Years, 100 Houses, Col. Edward Jessup Branch

This project is a celebration of the rich architectural heritage of Leeds and Grenville Counties. Ontario farm houses are unique in all the world and this house form had its very beginnings right here in Edwardsburg, Augusta and Elizabethtown townships during the late 1700's and early 1800's. This house form quickly spread to nearby townships, then across the province.

The production of this book is one of many projects being undertaken by the Col. Edward Jessup Branch in commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of 1914 Act of Parliament that created the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada.

The house will be drawn in pen and ink by Mark Adamson, a local artist, and that image will be used in the book rather than a photograph. In researching this project, we found that many home owners wanted an image of their home with the "Clock Turned Back" or without modern additions. It was also felt that an artist could capture the spirit and essence of such a structure in a way not possible with a photograph. Besides, it’s art!

Well, the fact of the matter is that we just can't afford 100 drawings, so to solve this problem we are offering the homeowner the opportunity to receive a high quality pen and ink drawing of their home of about 9" X 12" in net size. We have also made arrangements with Hang Ups, 24 St. Andrew Street, Brockville, to professionally frame and mat these drawings.

The cost to the homeowner is only $199 which includes the framed and matted original drawing plus two prints of the original for reproduction purposes (letterhead, notepaper, Christmas cards, etc.) and applicable taxes.

The homeowner/s then has a fine drawing of his/her/their home and we have our image of a historic home for inclusion in the book free.

With each image, there will be a text history of the home as well as comments on its unique features. Members of our branch and other volunteers will do the basic research to augment facts provided by the homeowners. We are already finding wonderful yet unknown stories attached to many of the homes accepted thus far, some dating back to the 1790's. This method of choosing homes is resulting in a fresh breath of local history, that otherwise may never have surfaced.

There are about 2500 candidate houses in the two counties. We are accepting the first 50 from each on a first come first served basis.

Israel or William West

Does any one have any information on any Church records: births, marriages, deaths, etc. or any civil records concerning the land grantees in the Kingsclear area, 1784? Or any records of the ship Duke of Richmond which sailed in the Fall Fleet from New York in 1783 to Parrtown, now Saint John? We know we are descended from either Israel or William West members of the New Jersey Volunteers but we can not find out for sure just which one. We do know that our ancestor was Edward West b 1789, married Sarah Barker in 1822, the father of 4 children: William 1826, George b 1828, Mary Mahetable b 1831 & Charles b 1833. Any information would be greatly appreciated so that we can definitely establish our line and join the ranks of the UEL.

...Pauline West Keehn, member, New Brunswick Branch (California resident) {pfkeehn AT innercite DOT com} how do I email her?

Patriotism and/or Loyalty

I'd like to respond to the commentary by Bill Volonte of New Jersey under the heading "Newsletter Subscriptions" in the UELAC newsletter dated September 19, 2004. Why can't a person "subscribe to the goals of Loyalists" if he happens to be a member of the Sons of the American Revolution?

In my case, I have at least five Patriots from Massachusetts and five Loyalists from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick from whom I am descended. When I eventually become a member of both organizations (though not a full member of the UELAC since the Queen is not my head of state), I will support both their goals since they represent what each of my ancestors must have believed when decisions were made to fight for those beliefs.

...Samuel Lord, Avon, CT

William Fraser

In the event it is pertinent, the ancestor I am researching and who I believe was a loyalist, is William Fraser who received a land grant at Manchester/Guysborough Nova Scotia in 1784. He served during the Revolutionary War with the Associated Departments of the Army and Navy (also known as both the Commissary’s Dept and the Civil Branches, they were the support people for the fighting units) and had been evacuated from New York City in 1783. He probably had been stationed in Queens NYC for a few years, but I don’t know that for a fact. He undoubtedly was of the lower ranks, a clerk or a laborer because the land lot he was granted was of the smallest size. He, his wife, and at least one child lived with him in New York and settled on their NS land. 4 other children were born there before he died by drowning in 1788. I know the devolution of his family down to myself, but I have learned virtually nothing yet about his earlier life or origins. I have found very few specific references to him in Guysborough County NS, and none as to his service with the Commissary Dept.

...Jack Freeman, Mississauga {jack DOT freeman AT sympatico DOT ca} how do I email him?

Response to Robert Chambers query

I am descended from a family of Chambers who supposedly came to America from Scotland pre circa 1725. I am fairly certain some of the family were on the British side during the American Revolution and others were on the American side. My Chambers ancestors arrived in Canada in the 1780/90's and they did receive land grants, however, because of records that have supposedly been misplaced/lost, I am not aware of any of the descendants of the Chambers who came to the Niagara area being able to get their UEL certificate through that particular family. Hopefully, one day those records may surface!

Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of the Chambers who settled in Nova Scotia. My Chambers had settled in the area of Allentown and New Windsor, New Jersey before coming to Canada as Loyalists. I have been told there was a another Chambers family from Ireland; I have no information about them. I do not know if we would be related; I do know that Robert and James are common names in my Chambers family.

There is a tale that my Isaac Chamber's father Ahijah Chambers married Elizabeth Doty, a descendant of Edward Doty, an indentured servant on the Mayflower.

...Betty Lou Bellows

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