Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2005 Archive

In this issue:
- Bernice Wood Flett Scholarship Winner
- Regina Cairn Plaques are Completed
- Calling Descendants and Others of Those in Battle of Huck's Defeat
- New Brunswick Archives Records Online
- Library and Archives Canada, Genealogy Centre
- UELAC Colloquium (Regional Seminar) in London
- A well-balanced family history
- Subscriptions welcomed from everywhere
- Students at Kilbride Research Local Loyalist History, Ruth Nicholson
- Canadian Genealogy television show announced
- Discovering New Netherland (Elderhostel)
- Indexing and Abstracting Society of Canada: Conference
- Bay of Quinte Branch on the Discovery Channel
- Canadian War Museum Stamp and Jeremiah French
- Queries
      + William and Mary Anderson from Remsheg in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia
      + Lois Hurd (Herd/Hart)
      + Update on Philip Drader
      + Oath to the Queen on the Certificate Application

Bernice Wood Flett Scholarship Winner

We are delighted that this year the Bernice Wood Flett Scholarship is awarded to Kelly Bennett of Queen's University, who is working on her Masters Program under the supervision of Jane Errington. Here in her own words is more information under the working title “Becoming ‘Daughters of the Empire': The Loyalist Refugee Women's Experience in Upper Canada, 1783-1812”. Here with a description:

The colonial experiences of North American women were once considered part of the ‘neglected past'. While historians were not initially drawn to this field of study, Joan Hoff Wilson, Mary Beth Norton and Linda Kerber have recently produced an impressive series of monographs to assess the Revolutionary experiences of American Patriot women. Our knowledge of the comparable social history of Loyalist women remains mostly spotty ­ reflecting the scattered nature of Canadian historical scholarship on the period. It may well be time for a young, enterprising student of Loyalist history to fill in the missing parts and to provide a fresh interpretation giving more weight to the gains achieved by our Loyalist foremothers.

Having assessed the impact of the Revolution on American women in great depth, it seems appropriate to turn our attention, now, to the experiences of Loyalist women. Janice Potter-MacKinnon's landmark study While the Women Only Wept: Loyalist Refugee Women, first applied and tested the Norton-Kerber thesis by comparing the experiences of Loyalist women with their Patriot counterparts. Although both demonstrated their capacity for “taking charge of families, managing farms or businesses, enduring persecution by opponents, or participating in the Revolution in various ways,” Potter-MacKinnon suggests that Patriot and Loyalist women's post-Revolutionary experiences were vastly different. She quite confidently concludes that Loyalist women found none of the advantages enjoyed by women in the neighbouring Republic. According to Potter-MacKinnon, British military occupation was best for males ­ while their husbands served, women and children were trapped in crowded barracks and refugee camps; that British officials deliberately used military rank preserve social status and gender difference in the new exiled communities of Upper Canada; and that, in exile, women continued to describe themselves as weak and dependent, despite their wartime achievements.

The conventional view of the Loyalist women's experience is ripe for reassessment. Critics of Potter MacKinnon's work­like Whig historian Wallace Brown­suggest that her book is based upon a rather incomplete analysis of the available documents and records. Her central thesis can also be called into question. It rests upon the assumption that the elevated position of “republican motherhood” was simply not accessible to Loyalist women and that the British Tory emphasis on male “loyalty, service and sacrifice during the Revolution” left little room for women's contributions. One cannot help but wonder whether all women were willing to so readily forsake their revolutionary wartime and exile experiences. Were all Loyalist refugee women content to return to a subordinate, domesticated state? In their letters and diaries, did they show any signs of being transformed into resilient, independently-minded women? To what extent were these women influenced or shaped by the Loyalist counter-revolutionary experience?

A dozen years after Potter-Mackinnon's ground-breaking study, a re-examination of this topic seems in order. In addressing the Loyalist women's experience, my research will delve more deeply into the personal diaries and private papers of some of Upper Canada's founding families and the few surviving records of ordinary folk. It will probe these remaining records for evidence of Loyalist women's political engagement and active participation in the ideological debates of the revolutionary era. In the process, my own research will explore the personal and political agency of Loyalist refugee women from both prominent families and more humble origins. It will also seek to demonstrate that Loyalist refugee women, swept up in a culture of defiance to republicanism, may have undergone their own peculiar transformation into a new type of womanhood reserved for true “daughters of the Empire”.

Kelly Alexandra Bennett is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in History at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Her graduate research focuses on the North American colonial experience and her current project is tentatively titled, “Becoming ‘Daughters of the Empire': The Loyalist Refugee Women's Experience in Upper Canada, 1783-1812”. In June 2004, Kelly graduated with an Hons. BA from Huron University College at Western. At Huron College, she held the Catherine Ridley National Scholarship (2000-2004), and won the Canadian History Prize and the Alumni History Award. Upon entering graduate school, she was also awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship for the 2004-2005 academic year. Over the summer of 2004, Kelly worked as a research assistant at Historica Foundation, assigned to work on future Heritage Minutes.

Kelly Bennnett is decended from PEI Loyalist stock. Raised in Toronto and Montreal, Kelly's paternal grandmother Grace MacPhee Bennett (1920-) has always claimed 6th generation Loyalist ancestry. That makes Kelly an 8th generation UEL descended from the McLeod's of Murray River, PEI.

Regina Cairn Plaques are Completed

Logan Bjarnason, President of Regina Branch, informed me today that the plaques for the Regina Cairn are now completed and ready to be placed for the unveiling at the Conference. See you there - don't miss it. More details can be found here.

Calling Descendants and Others of Those in Battle of Huck's Defeat

I am a historian with the Culture & Heritage Museums of York County, South Carolina, USA. The CHM is currently working on plans for a 225th Anniversary of the Battle of Huck's Defeat, also known as the Battle of Williamson's Plantation, which was fought on 12 July 1780 between Whig militia forces from Gen. Thomas Sumter's Brigade, and American Loyalist forces from the British Legion, New York Volunteers, and local Loyalist militia who were based at Rocky Mount on the Catawba River. The Battle of Huck's Defeat derives its name from Captain Christian Huck, a Philadelphia Loyalist who commanded a troop of dragoons from the British Legion. Huck's detachment was ambushed and defeated near the site of Historic Brattonsville, McConnells, York County, SC, on 12 July 1780. Captain Huck was killed in the battle, along with many of his men. Each year our organization, along with reenactors from all over the eastern United States, recreates this battle at Historic Brattonsville, only a few hundred yards from the site of the original battle. In honor of the 225th Anniversary of this battle, our events this year will include a one-day scholarly symposium on the American Revolution in the South Carolina backcountry; four battle reenactments at Historic Brattonsville (Battle of Huck's Defeat, Battle of Rocky Mount, Battle of Hanging Rock, and Battle of Stalling's Plantation, all fought in SC during the summer of 1780); and a reunion of descendant's of men who fought on both sides at the Battle of Huck's Defeat.

We are actively striving to make contact with descendants of the soldiers, both Whig and Loyalist, who fought in this important battle. To that end, I am contacting your organization in hopes that you can assist me in contacting descendants of the Provincial soldiers who served in the South Carolina backcountry during 1780 and 1781. (I have already sent a postal letter to the editor of the Loyalist Gazette with a similar request.) We know that many of the veterans of the British Legion and the New York Volunteers, as well as other regiments of the British Provincial corps, relocated to Canada following the end of the war. In particular, two of the veterans of the New York Volunteers who fought in the Battle of Huck's Defeat are known to have moved to Canada. They are Lieutenant John McGregor of the New York Volunteers, who was granted a town lot in Port Shelburne, Nova Scotia, by the Crown; and Ensign Allan Cameron of the New York Volunteers and later the British Legion, who received a 100-acre land grant in Port Hebert, East District of Queen's County, Nova Scotia. There may be other veterans of Huck's Defeat who also settled in Canada, of whom I have no knowledge.

I am very interested in corresponding with any modern descendants of men who served in the British Legion or New York Volunteers at the Rocky Mount fort under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Turnbull during 1780 and 1781. There may in fact be descendants living in Canada who have knowledge that their ancestor(s) participated in the conflict in the South Carolina backcountry, especially Huck's Defeat, and if so I would like to contact them and invite them to our activities this summer. Our scholarly symposium will be held on 8 July 2005 at the McCelvey Center in the city of York, SC, and our descendants reunion and battle reenactments will be held at Historic Brattonsville, McConnells, SC, on 9 and 10 July 2005. We are also in the process of setting up a major exhibition on the Revolutionary War in the Carolinas at the Museum of York County in Rock Hill, SC, that will last from 25 June 2005 until 8 May 2006. Further details about our upcoming events and exhibition may be found on our website, listed below, by following the links for the 225th Anniversary of Huck's Defeat.

I recently completed work on a new book detailing the first phase of the war in the Carolina backcountry; it will be published by The History Press of Charleston, SC, this spring. Entitled The Day It Rained Militia: Huck's Defeat and the Revolution in the South Carolina Backcountry, it is a detailed, objective, day-by-day chronology of events in May, June, and July 1780 leading up to Huck's Defeat, with an examination of the importance of this battle in the overall Southern Campaign. Unlike some previous books on the subject, this book draws heavily on primary source material and first-hand accounts from American, British, and Canadian records, and presents the war from both sides of the conflict. I have also just finished co-authoring a book with Dr. Bobby G. Moss called African-American Patriots in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, published by Scotia-Hibernia Press in 2004, which will be followed this fall by a companion volume entitled African-American Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution. Our African-American Patriots book is currently available from CHM and Amazon.com.

I very much look forward to corresponding with the members of the United Empire Loyalists on this subject, and to contacting descendants of the Loyalists who served the Crown in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution.

...Michael C. Scoggins, Research Historian/Curatorial Assistant, York SC

New Brunswick Archives Records Online

The Province of NB has photographed thousands of hand written documents and they are online here. Furthermore, they are alphabetically searchable. Sections include:

Old Soldiers Records of Old Revolutionary Soldiers and Their Widows

RS108 Index to Land Petitions: Original Series 1783-1918

RS141 Vital Statistics Searches of Births, Marriages and Deaths

RS686 Index to New Brunswick Land Grants, 1784-1997

...Sue Hines, Grand River Branch

Library and Archives Canada, Genealogy Centre

Library and Archives Canada have developed an educational experience game on the Internet. At their web site you can experience some of the possible stories of immigrants to Canada. One of these segments is on the Loyalists. Give it a try here.

Also from Genealogy at School, you can go to Evidence Web. Select "theme" at the left and within it one choice is Loyalists.

...Rob McCarey, Councillor, Central West Region

UELAC Colloquium (Regional Seminar) in London

On April 9, the eight branches of the Central West Region UELAC gathered at the Westmount Library in London for a day of presentations and discussion. Over forty members registered to partake in presentations by Doug Grant (Gov. Simcoe), Bill Terry, (Grand River), Doris Lemon (Grand River), Kim Hurst (Bicentennial). Rod Craig (Col. Butler - Niagara) led a separate workshop for the branch genealogists. Colloquium coordinator Fred Hayward (Hamilton) also squeezed in mini-sessions for education and costume developments. Throughout the day there was opportunity to make purchases at the Project 2014 Market. In addition, eight lucky participants took home surprise gifts donated by the branches and the Project 2014 Committee. With such full participation and thanks to the fine efforts of the host branch, London and Western Ontario, everyone was eager to maintain this annual meeting. Looking ahead, Grand River and Col. Butler Niagara volunteered to prepare major presentations on Branch projects, history and events for the next regional colloquium on 8 April 2006.

...Fred Hayward, RVP, Central West Region

A well-balanced family history

I'm in the "thick" of getting my primary and secondary sources for both the Loyalist and Patriot sides of the family. It may be easier for the Loyalist side ultimately since the count is now at seven Loyalists and six Patriots.

...Sam Lord, Avon, CT

Subscriptions welcomed from everywhere

Please subscribe me to the regular e-newsletter for United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada. I am not currently a member of the UELA, but I have received an application and will begin filling it out this month.

...Bruce Martin, Spring TX

Students at Kilbride Research Local Loyalist History, Ruth Nicholson

This year, my grade seven history students have been introduced to Loyalist history through a role-playing kit that included Loyalists from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Upper Canada as well as Native, Black and Soldier Loyalists. Some textbook work involved mapping, readings and responses, but to further develop the understanding of early Loyalist exile and pioneering work, I looked for prominent local Loyalists in my region. The families we are researching are Brant, Gage, Green, Jarvis, Land, Morden, Shaver, and Springer.

Books were chosen from local libraries with references and readings marked. After the selection of the subject, each student will research, and in so doing, connect to his/her Loyalist while learning about the family's circumstances as pioneers in their community. They will go in teams of two, one acting as the photographer and the other as the interviewer, as they visit pertinent sites and speak to local historians and family members.

Through digital video-taping, the students will compose the information for an I-movie to be shared with the other classes in the school.

For further details see the Burlington Post edition of Sunday April 10. The article goes across 2 pgs and has been given 2 titles: "Canadian History Lives at Kilbride" and "Students Learn History Firsthand". You can also check the April newsletter of the Hamilton Branch UELAC found in the Publication folder of its website.

...Ruth Nicholson U.E.

Canadian Genealogy television show announced

Linking genealogy and travel, Canada's History Television cable channel has put out the call for help with creating a new series. Ancestors Search will be based on the stories of people tracing their family histories.

Quoting from the television show's web site: "History Television wants your help in developing a new series that will help you unravel dramatic, personal family mysteries and take you on a worldwide quest for answers. Tell us what you know about the person in your family whose story most intrigues you. It can be a grandparent, parent, uncle or aunt - anyone whose life has left you with questions and a drive to answer them. Or, if you've made an unexpected or startling discovery while researching your family we'd like to know."

Submissions should be 500 words or less and sent to the e-mail address Ancestors.Search@allianceatlantis.com. You can read more at here.

(Information from Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.)

...David Kemlo, Kawartha Branch

Discovering New Netherland (Elderhostel)

Program # 13167NP, September 18 - September 25, 2005

At the request of several descendants of the early settlers of Dutch New Netherland, Elderhostel has developed a special week-long charter program. This special charter will enable descendants of those early settlers of New Netherland to visit Manhattan, Albany, and the Hudson River Valley to learn about the history and culture of early Dutch settlements and society in the New World.

Until recently the Dutch Colonial period in American history- from 1609 to 1664 - was marginalized if not totally ignored by mainstream historians. Using the latest historical research, this ground-breaking program will demonstrate why the Hudson Estuary, anchored by New Amsterdam/New York to the south and Fort Orange/Albany to the north, was the most important waterway in the development of the United States prior to the Revolutionary War. In the early 17th century, the Dutch West India Company planted the seeds for Albany and New York, the two great Hudson River cities you will visit on this program. Fort Orange/Albany was destined to become the capital of New York State, while on Manhattan, recently dubbed "the island at the center of the world," the Dutch established New Amsterdam, a contentious small city where the struggles for religious, political and economic freedom would pave the way for the constitutional rights we enjoy today.

Lively talks by scholars, trips to important Dutch historical sites, walking tours, and visits to museums and libraries will enhance our knowledge of the vital role played by Dutch people in the founding and development of the United States. In addition, time will be available in New York to see a show and dine in restaurants of your choice.

For more informaiton, please call Elderhostel,toll-free, at 1-877-426-8056.

Indexing and Abstracting Society of Canada: Conference

In our up-coming conference on June 8th and 9th in Ottawa, we will have a genealogy panel that will be discussing how genealogical indexes are constructed ­ and what tools are required?

The conference also includes a number of other sessions. An outline of the events can be found here.

Bay of Quinte Branch on the Discovery Channel

Keep tuned to CG Kids on the Discovery Channel or TVO and you may see Episode 402 titled Eerie Prince Edward County. The CG Kids website has information on the episode here. The description begins with:

"When Eldon decides to save money by drawing a map of Prince Edward County, Sid and Idee get lost and have to figure out how to get there on their own. Luckily, they find an advertisement for a historic cruise with Pete Ferri of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada, but their leisurely boat ride turns out to be a first-hand lesson in some of the hardships endured by early settlers of historic Adolphustown."

When you see the episode you will notice Bay of Quinte Branch's U.E.L. Heritage Centre and their reproduction bateaux, Black Snake. The Loyalist clothing worn by the series hosts and the canvas wedge tent is part of the personal kit of the Branch's, Brandt Zätterberg.

Canadian War Museum Stamp and Jeremiah French

The stamp is for the Canadian War Museum and comes out May 6th. The stamp does not have the Jeremiah French uniform on it. However, the Booklet of 8 stamps does and so does the FDC (that's first day cover for you non-philatelic types). the FDC is 1.50 and the book of 8 stamps is 4.00.

You can go to a Canada Post store, call them at 1-800-565-4362, or check their website.

William and Mary Anderson from Remsheg in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia

Help is required on sourcing information on William and Mary Anderson from Remsheg in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. The town of Remsheg was renamed Wallace in 1825. William and Mary may have lived there in the 1820s.

William Anderson may be a descendant of loyalist Peter Anderson who originally came from Westchester New York and settled in Remsheg (Wallace) after the Revolutionary War (1775-1783)???????

Any information would be appreciated.

...Shaun Wallace {shaun DOT wallace DOT sympatico DOT ca} how do I email him?

Lois Hurd (Herd/Hart)

Is it possible that any of our members have researched the Hurd (Herd/Hart) Family? I need information about Lois Hurd (Sept. 14,780-1824) who was married to Daniel Scott, Loyalist of Rupert Vermont, who was born in Sunderland Mass. Dec.3, 1744, died Dec. 26, 1829 and is buried in Scottsmore Cemetery at Sweetsburg, in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Their son Capt. Lemuel Scott Oct. 23 1780 married June 9, 1803 Keziah Martin (1787-1860). She was the daughter of Mary Martin 1748-1841. She too is buried with the rest of them in the Scottsmore Cemetery.

My trip to Boston proved to me that there must have been two Lois Hurds as there is also one Lois (Burritt) Hurd who was married to Phineas Hurd and was buried in Ontario.

...Margaret Carter, UE, RVP, Manitoba Branch {jmcarter AT mts DOT net} how do I email her?

Update on Philip Drader

Thank you for including my Query regarding the Mother of Philip Drader b. 1827. I made a mistake on the information, I said: “Philip's wife was probably the daughter of Philip Switzer and Patience Rose” however, It should have been Philip's mother was probably the daughter of Philip Switzer and Patience Rose”.

...Susanne J. Tanney

For your information, I noticed that Global Genealogy has republished the book “To Their Heirs Forever” a book on the Palatines which has a wealth of information on the Huff, Switzer, Teskey and other UEL families.

Oath to the Queen on the Certificate Application

I recently received a membership application from one of your branches (Ontario, near Burritt's Rapids). I feel I can validate my membership through one of my ancestors. However, the application requires an Oath of Allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

This is all well and fine, except that I am an American citizen (I actually am a dual citizen). In your knowledge, would such an Oath invalidate my US citizenship? If so, is there a UEL association in the United States?

...Bruce J. Martin

The person who gave you the application should have asked if you were a US citizen.

In your case you can still do everything on the signatures page, except sign the oath of allegiance to the Queen. Just make a note there and/or on an attachment that you are an American citizen, and as a result cannot sign that oath.

As a result you will still be a member, still entitled to the post-nominal U.E., and can use it. However in deep technical terms you will be an Affiliate member rather than a Regular Member, which means there is no difference except that you cannot hold the executive positions of Branch President, or UELAC executive.

As far as I am concerned a member is a member is a member, and everyone is treated the same (with the exception of the above). We do have a goodly number of American Citizens who have joined and many of them are proven.

I hope that helps clarify, but if you have any doubts or further questions, just ask.

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.