Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2004 Archive

In this issue:
- Christmas suggestions
- UELAC Domion Office Holiday Hours
- Governor General's Levee
- Gilbert Hyatt Highway - Battling City Hall
- Loyalists are known, sometimes more than we think
- Pierre Berton Passes
- Toronto Library Internet Resources
- Loyalist Monuments
- Queries
      + Question about Newfoundland Loyalists
      + Two Hector Morrisons
      + Anglican Clergy from the Revolutionary War Period

Christmas Suggestions from Promotions 2014

Lord Mayor: The only Lord Mayor in Canada, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, has UEL glassware in his home - the glassware picked out by the Lord Mayor himself! Pleased with the glassware, the Lord Mayor's wife has ordered additional UEL glassware as Christmas gifts!

UEL Limited Edition Plate: Is your shopping done?? If not we have the solution! Order a UEL Limited Edition plate. We'll put a tag and ribbon on it and ship it out for the all inclusive price of $40.00. Don't delay! Christmas is fast approaching!

UEL Tie and Scarf: Help someone "tie one on" for the Christmas holiday! Send him one of our men's ties or send her a ladies' scarf. The ties are $30.00 and the scarf is $25.00 - free shipping included as a Christmas Special!

For more information contact Noreen Stapley {gdandy AT iaw DOT on DOT ca how do I email her?} or visit our online catalogue with pictures and prices.

UELAC Domion Office Holiday Hours

The Dominion Office in Toronto will be closed for the holidays. The last office day is Thursday December 16 witha return to work on Tuesday January 4, 2005. Mette may well drop in to the office over the holiday to see if there is anything urgent, but please don't depend on that.

Governor General's Levee

Her Excellency, The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada, and His Excellency John Ralston Saul are pleased to invite members of the UELAC and their families to the Governor General's Levee, Sunday, December 12, 2004 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm at Rideau Hall, 1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Information: (613) 993-1815 / 1-800-263-0816. (As noted in the gazette, His and Her Excellencies are our UELAC Patrons)

Gilbert Hyatt Highway - Battling City Hall

Twelve years ago, in the Eastern Townships, a short stretch of Rte. 143 was named the Gilbert Hyatt Highway, in honour of Loyalist Gilbert Hyatt. Glenn Taylor donated all the original papers belonging to his Loyalist ancestor, Gilbert Hyatt, to Bishops University. There were celebrations, as one would expect. Another piece of our Loyalist heritage preserved, and a nice pience of promotion - what more could we ask for.

Fast forward to 2004. This stretch of road is now part of a different municipality - Waterville. For whatever reasons, but one at least that has been stated and it is safety reasons for 911 responsiveness, the municipality has polled the residents along the road by letter and is removing the double name - of course the loyalist name is the one to go.

Little Forks President, Bev Loomis, is working furiously to try to preserve the name. She is calling on the press, has contacted other levels of government, is pressing local historical groups - doing everything she can think of to try to preserver the name. Bev, on behalf of the branch members there, finds the whole thing very frustrating. If you have any suggestions or can help Bev through writing or other activities, please contact a Beverly Loomis

We are with you Bev.

Loyalists are known, sometimes more than we think

I'm just listening to Shelagh Rogers on CBC. She's talking to two Viet Nam draft dodgers about the current US army deserter situation happening now with Immigration Canada. One of them said that Canada has a tradition of taking in people who are against war and we should give them refuge - he said, this tradition goes right back to the "United Empire Loyalists". It's not often you hear that said. AND from a former American!

...Mette Griffin, Dominion Office Administrator, Friday Dec 10

Pierre Berton Passes

There has been so much press, and rightfully so, about Pierre Berton's passing recently that I won't try to recap it all. As many of you know, Pierre was an honorary Vice-President of the UELAC from 2001 to 2004. Although he may not have helped the Loyalist cause by writing much about the Loyalists, he certainly was one of the principal reasons that history has grown in popularity in our country and for that we thank him. In effect, he has thrown the baton over to us collectively to carry on the task. Thanks for bringing history to life Pierre.

Toronto Library Internet Resources

Toronto Public Library's online resources are evolving to keep pace with new developments in Internet technology. Effective December 7 2004 the site "Bob's Your Uncle, Eh!" will be discontinued, and the "Virtual Reference Library (VRL)" will be our one-stop source for links to genealogy websites.

Genealogists are invited to explore the family history resources available through the Virtual Reference Library. The VRL includes many of the sites that were part of Bob's Your Uncle, Eh! As well, the VRL offers research advice, databases, digital collections, library information, news feeds, and more.

Browse the VRL by subject or search by keyword to find information on topics that include vital statistics, census indexes, military records, city directories, and maps and gazetteers. Genealogy resources for Toronto, Ontario, and Canada are covered in depth. You will also find selective listings of recommended sites for international family history research.

The genealogy section of the Virtual Reference Library is maintained by librarians from Toronto Public Library's two major genealogy collections: North York Central Library's Canadiana Department and Toronto Reference Library's Special Collections, Genealogy & Maps Centre. We welcome your feedback and suggestions of sites to include.

Visit the VRL at www.virtualreferencelibrary.ca. You'll find Genealogy listed in the Subject Directory section of the home page.

TORONTO RESIDENTS - Link to ttp://vrl.torontopubliclibrary.ca for the VRL with additional Toronto Public Library resources (like the library catalogue, magazines, newspapers, and more). For some resources, a Toronto Public Library card is required for access. You'll find Genealogy listed in the Subject Directory section of the home page.

...Toronto Public Library Home Page: www.torontopubliclibrary.ca

Loyalist Monuments

We support Bay of Quinte member, Major John Fisher's efforts to have the Loyalists included on a Queen's Park veteran's memorial. While not specifically a military monument, the Loyalists' 1884 memorial obelisk at Adolphustown is owned and maintained by the Bay of Quinte Branch. We cherish this monument, and consider it a lasting memorial to all the individuals and families who made sacrifices during the American Revolution and struggled to make a new life in what is now Canada. Please visit http://www.uel.ca/cemetery.html for pictures of the Adolphustown memorial. Also construction on St.-Alban-the-Martyr U.E.L. Memorial Church, Adolphustown was started in 1884. Its memorial tiles denote Loyalist names from across Canada, including Ontario Lt. Gov. Beverly Robinson. Please remember that whenever we place the 'U.E.' after our names we offer ourselves as a living reminder of all Loyalists.

...Brandt Zätterberg, U.E., Executive Director, U.E.L. Heritage Centre & Park, Adolphustown

I want to follow up Brandt Zatterberg's email regarding our UEL monument. It surprised me to see the email newsletter article about the UEL memorial without ANY refererence to existing ones. In addition to our own, there is one in Hamilton and I am sure others elsewhere in the Dominion. I think it would be prudent if the Dominion DID have some sort of official list of ALL such memorials, whether military or not, so that all members can know where they are to visit.

I realize that our branch is somewhat amiss at promoting our own obelisk better. BUT it was one of the three major sites noted for the OFFICIAL celebration of the loyalists in Ontario for 1884 and as a matter of fact the FIRST location in the long celebration with MANY dignitaries present. There is a full description of the event and unveiling of this monument in the Old United Empire Loyalist List book, if you have not seen it.

I think that sometimes we put too much emphasis on the 1914 startup to the Dominion as our historic starting point, at the expense of knowledge of OTHER items of importance to the loyalists such as the unveiling of our monument and that in Hamilton as well. For many years in the late 1800s and early 1900s the Ontario Historical Society made our site an annual site of pilgrimage to celebrate the importance of the Loyalists in Ontario.

As Brandt mentioned, we also have TWO local churches that were erected also as memorials to the loyalists, even bearing that in their names.

This is just what we have in OUR area, I am sure there may be others in other areas of Canada. Perhaps this may be a project for consideration by Dominion, so others can do as our branch has done, to preserve and promote sites which commemorate the Loyalists in Canada.

...Brian Tackaberry, President, Bay of Quinte Branch UEL

Question about Newfoundland Loyalists

I need information. It concerns Newfoundland. I have a query from a chap who descends from a man who went to Newfoundland after the American Revolution. He asserts that this man was a "Loyalist" and that his descendants should be able to obtain U.E. status.

I know that Newfoundland was not part of Canada after confederation but what was the situation at the time when Lord Dorchester made the declaration that created the United Empire Loyalists?

In the literature that I have scrambled together there seems to be some confusion as to what Lord Dorchester was, and what authority he had, on November 9, 1789 when he made that declaration.

I notice in Loyalist Trails 2004-21 dated November 13, 2004 that a Baron Dorchester was Governor of New York in 1782 and started a second term as Governor of Quebec in 1793.

In the Dominion Office web site "What is a Loyalist" he is given as Governor of Quebec when he made his declaration on November 9, 1789.

On Page 4 of the Branch President's Manual, Lord Dorchester is given as Governor-in-Chief of British North America when, on November 9, 1789, he made his declaration that created the United Empire Loyalists. This would fit with the information that is in Loyalist Trails.

I am wondering, was he Governor-in-Chief of British North America when he made his declaration on November 9, 1789? Also, on November 9, 1789 did his authority extend over Newfoundland? If so, was a person who remained loyal to the Crown, and who left the USA after the American Revolution to go to Newfoundland, a United Empire Loyalist? Could a descendant of that person apply for U.E. status?

I am also wondering if the act of parliament in 1914 that created the UELAC has anything in it concerning persons who remained loyal to the Crown and who went to Newfoundland during or shortly after the American Revolution. Could descendants of those persons apply for U.E. status?

And finally, is there anything in the act or acts that enabled Newfoundland to become part of Canada in 1949 that would allow descendants of loyal persons, described in the paragraph above, to apply for U.E. status?

...Al Huffman, UE, Pesident, Victoria Branch

Response #1:

I don't know much about NFLD loyalists. There were not too many and I believe they went from PEI and NS, maybe NB. In any case an applicant would have to find proof that he was a Loyalist so I don't think it matters that NFLD was not part of Canada at the time.

...Libby Hancocks UE, Dominion Genealogist

Response #2:

Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester was twice Governor of Quebec, 1768 - 78 and again 1785 - 95. He was British Commander in Chief of New York, 1782-3. After New York, while in England, he lobbied unsuccessfully for a single Governor General for British North America. So he was Governor of Quebec in 1789 when he made his Unity of the Empire UE declaration.

But in 1789, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2000 edition, p 2310, Territorial Evolution, there were governments for Newfoundland (including Labrador), Nova Scotia, Cape Breton (1784 to 1820), St. John's Island(PEI, formed 1769), New Brunswick (formed 1784), and Quebec (which extended along the St Lawrence and Great Lakes west to Lake Huron) but lands north and west of Quebec were either Crown lands or belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company.

As a result, one could assume that Carleton's declaration would apply only to those who were Loyalists and came to then Quebec. However, as other provinces - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI - joined to create, or afterwards joined, Canada, Loyalists were recognized, although the rules in different areas may have been different. As Libby notes, if they can show they were a Loyalist, someone who settled in Newfoundland should have as much right to be a UE Loyalist as one who settled in other provinces not then part of Quebec but later part of Canada.

There is nothing in the Act of Parliament which created the UELAC in 1914 which defines Loyalists.

(This is just one example of the fascinating questions which arrive, and to which we have to figure out answers.)

...Doug Grant UE

Two Hector Morrisons

(One found in Kortright's Patent, first husband of Barbara Fraser - and one in New Carlisle PQ, husband of Ann Lane.)

1 - The first husband of Barbara Fraser (Barbara remarried to Duncan McCraw in Three Rivers, Quebec, in 1784).

According to Colonel Burleigh, in his "Confiscations, Albany, Charlotte and Tryon Counties, New York" a document published by the UEL, Hector Morrison was indicted by the Committee on Conspiracies in the New York province, county Tryon, on 3rd May 1783 and judgment was pronounced on 29th December 1783.

According to WATT, GAVIN K. et James F. MORRISON, The British Campaign of 1777, The St. Leger Expedition, The Forces of the Crown and Congress, vol. One, Second edition, Milton, Ontario, Global Heritage Press 2003, pp. 203 et 204, Hector Morrison was engaged in the Schoharie uprising between 7-13 Aug 77.

Barbara is found at the loyalist refugee camp of Machiche PQ, in September 1779. She declares that she is a widow, she comes from New York but was born in Scotland (films Canadian Archives C-1475, C-1654 and C-1655).

Her daughter Catherine Morrison, marries John Ross in Gaspesia. Catherine declares in a petition for land of her husband that her father Hector Morrison died in as military action while fighting in Canada (Canadian Archives, film C-2558, vol 170, p.82643).

2 - The husband of Ann Lane.

In 1788, the name of this Hector is found in a petition for land in Bay Chaleur, (film C-2495, Archives nationales du Canada, p. 2889ss). His name appears under the heading Loyalists in the petition. Perhaps this is simply due to the fact that his wife was Ann Lane, daughter of John Lane, a loyalist. John was a private in the Loyal Rangers (See THE OLD EMPIRE LOYALISTS LIST, Genealogical Publishers Co Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1993, vol 2). As children of Loyalists were granted land because of their fathers, in the petition, Hector could claim land on this account.

This Hector Morrison died on 10 November 1823 aged 75 according to the record of the Anglican Church ; therefore, he was born in 1748 (Quebec Archives, film M177.23).

In view of this, when the first child of the couple Hector-Ann was born in 1788, Hector was 40 years of age and Ann was somewhere above 16 since girls commonly married at 16.

So - The two Hector Morrisons we see here could have been contemporaries; or we have only one person.

Both were of the same age or about.

If we take 1773 as a reference point, we can guess the husband of Barbara was in his twenties; the husband of Ann, was 25, having been born in 1748.

Questions:

A - Was the husband of Ann personally a loyalist, or was he written in the petition for land as a loyalist on account of Ann's Father?

B - Do we have here one or two men?

C - Where did Hector, the husband of Ann Lane, come from when he arrived at New Carlisle?

...Yvan Goulet {gouletyv AT videotron DOT ca} how do I email him?

Anglican Clergy from the Revolutionary War Period

Ron. This is in response to your request for information and pictures of Anglican clergy who were loyal to the Crown during the American Revolution.

I submit the Rev. Thomas Shreve. He was a student of Kings College (now Columbia University) prior to the revolution. Thomas left the college to join the Loyalist forces. He was studying for the Ministry when the war broke out. In 1783 his regiment was ordered to Halifax where he was an Assistant Barracks Master until 1784 when he was placed on half pay and retired. Shortly after being retired from the Army he and his family went to England where he resumed his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained Deacon on 25 April 1787 and Priest on 3 June 1787, and became Priest at Parrsboro, Nova Scotia later that year. In 1806 he became Rector of Lunenburg, NS.

This information is taken from "A History of the Shreve Family in Nova Scotia and the United States", by Richmond B. Shreve, 1972. It is in the collections of the Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management. Attached is a copy of a portrait of Rev. T. Shreve that has been in my family for generations. The original is now in the collections of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. I have much more detailed text on Rev. Shreve and his family, if you are interested. It would be easier to send it to you by mail than e-mail.

...Dorothy Meyerhof

Response #1:

Dear Dorothy, thank you very much for your help with Rev. Thomas Shreve. King's College is an important part of my work and I expect he left that College about the same time that the President Myles Cooper was forced to flee to England. I did not come across him because, though my work follows the Loyalist clergy into Ontario and the Maritimes, he had not had a chance to join the Church until later. I would like to have your permission to include his portrait in relation to King's College, if the publisher would like to.

The S.P.G. mission at Lunenburg comes into my work. Peter De La Roche was the minister there at the outbreak of hostilities and he came from England. He joined a German minister there whose name slips my mind at the moment. I have just remembered, he was Paulus Bryzellius. (I am typing this in the local library.) I have responses from two other members of the UELAC regarding Samuel Cooke from New Jersey and John Stuart from the Mohawk Valley in New York.

...Ron Cooksey

Response #2:

Dear Ronald, I'm glad you found the information on Rev. Shreve useful. Please do include the portrait of Rev. Shreve, if it furthers the story of your book. I would like to be kept informed of your progress and purchase a copy when it is published.

...Dorothy Meyerhof

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