Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2005 Archive

In this issue:
- Atlantic Region Seminar May 17-18
- 'Westward Ho' Conference
- 2004 "Tour of Historic Sites" Booklet
- Letter from Ian Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada
- Expedite Passage of Bill S-18
- Oath of Allegiance to the Queen of Canada by American Citizens
- Students Experience Loyalist Survival
- Queries
      + Seeking pictures to use for the History Detective Series
      + Can you help David by identifying proven Loyalists?

Atlantic Region Seminar May 17-18

There will be an Atlantic Regional Conference on 17-18 May in Saint John,N.B. in conjunction with the Loyalist Day celebrations. Speakers will be Kathryn Hilder, who set up the Loyalist Collection at UNB, Doug Grant, Dominion President and Fred Hayward, Dominion Education/Outreach Chair. There will be meetings, networking, Loyalist Day celebrations, a banquet and more, so join in. For information, contact Frances Morrisey at fmor@nbnet.nb.ca or telephone, 506-693-7054 by 9 May.

'Westward Ho' Conference

On Thursday the Regina Branch will realize a dream and unveil the Cairn built to honor their Loyalist ancestors. If you thought your prairie welcome was complete wait until we teach you how to celebrate.

Friday's banquet will showcase Saskatchewan cuisine and you will get a look at some prairie humor as a troupe of actors and actresses treat you to a play.

Saturday the annual AGM gives you the right to exercise your membership. The Gala banquet at the Centre of the Arts will bring the evening to an exciting close.

Sunday, as we participate with the congregation of Knox Metropolitan, let us give thanks for another wonderful time together and the final event will be a sumptuous brunch at the Queen's Saskatchewan residence, Hotel Saskatchewan.

...Gerry and Pat Adair.

On Thursday April 28, on a cold blustery day, several people from the Regina Branch attended the installation of the plaques on to the cairn. One more step. The Lt. Governor will unveil the cairn as part of our Conference -- don't miss it, register today.

...Logan Bjarnason, President, Regina Branch

2004 "Tour of Historic Sites" Booklet

I have just discovered that I have several tour booklets which are available for sale. I have three copies of " A Tour of Historic Sites in The Hudson Valley: From Albany to West Point, NY, 2004." They are available for $15.00 each including shipping and handling.

...Edward Kipp

Letter from Ian Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada

"Thank you for your letters dated November 16 and December 2, 2004, inviting me to comment on any new developments at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) that might be of interest to your membership.

We are planning two digital initiatives that should attract the attention of Loyalist researchers. The Evidence Web is an educational unit designed to introduce researchers to a selection of primary sources in our collections on specific themses. The Loyalist portion of the site includes interpretive text and twenty-five digitized images, including paintings, maps and documents; more images will be added in the future. A prototype is available here.

We are also planning to digitize the Loyalist land petitions for our Moving Here, Staying Here web site on Canadian immigration; the petitions will be available online with a nominal index to the name of the petitioner. We hope that these two projects will make Loyalist history more accessible to all researchers, especially young people who are so adept at using the web and web resources.

Should you wish any further information about these developments or a short article for the Loyalist Gazette, please contact Michael Eamon, Manager, Virtual Exhibitions and Partnerships."

...Yours Truly, Ian E. Wilson

(Note that Wayne Hovdestad, President, Calgary Branch, has been in contact with Michael Eamon, who says he has Loyalist roots.)

Expedite Passage of Bill S-18

Parliament resumes on Monday 2 May. To make this effort effective, it is important that your e-mail and faxes be sent in the next couple of days. Should you experience a problem connecting with the receiving fax machine it probably means that it has run out of paper. Try again the next day to give staff a chance to replenish the paper. Thank you all for your support.

...Gordon A. Watts, Co-chair, Canada Census Committee

P.S.: This is the time for massive mailings to all memberes of Parliament. We have provided e-mail addresses for all of the above. We urge you to send a message, either the one following or (better yet) one in your own words.

Greetings,

We urge all House and Party leaders, and all Members of Parliament, to please join together to expedite passage of Bill S-18, An Act to amend the Statistics Act, by foregoing Committee and Report stages. We seek your cooperation to immediately pass Second and Third Readings of this Bill in a single day. We are concerned that this Bill must be passed and given Royal Assent prior to the possibility of an election being forced upon us.

An estimated 7.5 million genealogists and historians (voters) in Canada wish to spend the summer, and beyond, researching the long overdue records of the 1911 Census of Canada, rather than having to continue the fight to see them released.

Thank you.

( STATE your name, address and telephone number.)

Prime Minister Paul Martin, e-mail to: Martin.P@parl.gc.ca (613) 941-6900

Tony Valeri - Government House Leader, e-mail to: Valeri.T@parl.gc.ca (613) 992-7764 - Department fax (613) 952-4940

David Emerson - Minister of Industry, e-mail to: Emerson.D@parl.gc.ca (613) 943-0219 - Department fax (613) 992-0302

Liza Frulla - Minister of Canadian Heritage, Frulla.L@parl.gc.ca (613) 995-6404 - Department fax (819) 994-1267

Stephen Harper - Leader of Opposition (Conservative), e-mail to: Harper.S@parl.gc.ca (613) 947-0310

Jay Hill - Opposition House Leader (Conservative) e-mail to; Hill.J@parl.gc.ca (613) 947-4527

Jack Layton - NDP Leader, e-mail to: Layton.J@parl.gc.ca (613) 995-4565

Libbie Davies - NDP House Leader, e-mail to; Davies.L@parl.gc.ca (613) 995-7412

Gilles Duceppe - Bloc Quebecios Leader, e-mail to; Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca (613) 954 2121

Michel Gauthier - Bloc Quebecios House Leader; e-mail to: Gauthier.M@parl.gc.ca (613) 992-9954

...Donald Flowers U.E.

Oath of Allegiance to the Queen of Canada by American Citizens

The following is extracted from a document on the U.S. Government website. It is titled "Potentially Expatriating Statutes."

"Section 349 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, states that U.S. citizens are subject to loss of citizenship if they perform certain acts voluntarily and with the intention to relinquish U.S. citizenship. Briefly stated, these acts include:

(2) taking an oath, affirmation or other formal declaration to a foreign state or its political subdivisions (Sec. 349 (a) (2) INA);

That statement is reinforced later with:

Administrative Standard of Evidence

As already noted, the actions listed above can cause loss of U.S. citizenship only if performed voluntarily and with the intention of relinquishing U.S. citizenship. The Department has a uniform administrative standard of evidence based on the premise that U.S. citizens intend to retain United States citizenship when they obtain naturalization in a foreign state, subscribe to routine declarations of allegiance to a foreign state, or accept non-policy level employment with a foreign government. "

So unless there is some other overriding statement or policy, it strikes me that taking the oath of allegiance to the Queen of Canada and Britain would not cause any problems for an American citizen, with or without dual citizenship.

That said, I can understand why many people would be rather reluctant, and that would be why we would have the Affiliate Membership.

...Submitted by Susan Henry, extracted by Doug Grant and with his comments/interpretation

Students Experience Loyalist Survival

Never underestimate the power of a creative teacher and a good publicist when it comes to drawing attention to innovation in the classroom. Three years ago, in the winter of 2002, the Sault Star ran an article on a Loyalist experience at St. Joseph Island Central School.

This past March, the North Shore Sentinel reported that the Thessalon Public School's grade seven students participated in a unique educational event, a Loyalist Survivor Game. Over a period of 15 days, the students were arranged into family groups to research and learn about the American Revolution and the "Loyalists." There was a lot of problem solving activities before the big test –- survival. On February 22, the family groups drew lots to determine campsites and raced to locate firewood and water to brew tea. Meals were created from the same ingredients the earlier Loyalists were supplied. Role reversals gave the boys a first hand change to discover the challenges those Loyalist women faced looking after “babies” and cooking over open fires in long dresses. These students will well remember this part of Canadian history.

Both events were the work of the same teacher. Once again we congratulate Marla Adamson Barber for helping young people understand more about the United Empire Loyalists.

...Fred Hayward, Chairman, Education and Outreach

Seeking pictures to use for the History Detective Series

I am the archive researcher for the PBS documentary television series History Detectives. We are currently working on an investigative story about the United Empire Loyalists. We are searching for images to illustrate the Loyalists' journey to Canada and their settlement. We are also looking for images settlements along the St. Lawrence River. Would your organization have such images? Also, we have a book called United Empire Loyalists, Mika Publishing Company. We would like to the images in the book. However, we are unable to locate this company in Belleville Ontario. Would your organization know anything about this book?

I would greatly appreciate any advise, as we would like to find images for our story as soon as possible. Please feel free to contact me at 212-206-8633 ext. 3845 or via email.

...Suzanne Richiardone

Can you help David by identifying proven Loyalists?

Before I spend a lot of time proving descent from a Loyalist, do you have a list of those who are currently considered Loyalists? My Loyalist connections are in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Pretty Sure

- Andrew Hamm, wife Maria Baraga and son Charles Hamm

- Charles Theal, wife Millicent Dickson and daughter Mary (Theal) Hamm

- William Brittain, wife Christian Moody and son James Moody Brittain

- Robert Thorne, wife Sophia Pels and daughter Catherine Ann (Thorn) Brittain

Possible

- Parents of John Colwell and parents of wife Mary Hutchinson (?)

- John Lee and wife Elizabeth Anne Alstow (?)

Iffy

- Joshua Temple de St. Croix, wife Leah Gallaudet, daughter Marie de St. Croix (Fowler), son-in-law Caleb Fowler and granddaughter Leah (Fowler) Greene

[proof of descent requires a preponderance of evidence]

Long shot

- Thomas Greene, wife Mercy Cook and son Benjamin Greene

[parents returned to US, I have no idea what happened to Benjamin, the particular time frame in Nova Scotia is a bit of a black hole]

If anyone can tell me if any of these are proven Loyalists, or can provide me with any directions in making that proof, I would be most appreciative.

...David Reed, Toronto

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.