Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2005 Archive

In this issue:
- Loyalist Display, Charlie Campbell Museum, Kingsville Historical Park
- Lady Loyalists: we got cousins
- The Friends of the Loyalist Collection at Brock University
- The Spring Fleet ... in Vancouver
- History Detective: News gets around
- The Winslow Papers at the University of New Brunswick
- Loyalist Day June 19 Plans for Ontario
- Queries
      + Treasury Loyalists
      + Response re Captain Henry Ruiter family

Loyalist Display, Charlie Campbell Museum, Kingsville Historical Park

I would like to tell you about the wonderful Loyalist Display set up by Bicentennial Branch at the Charlie Campbell Museum at Kingsville Historical Park in Kingsville, Ontario. A great deal of time and effort went into getting this together as we encountered many problems along the way. This is an ongoing project and will be updated as more artifacts become available. Special thanks goes out to Linda Lynch of Kingsville Historical Park for all her help and support to get our display together.

We would love to share stories of the Loyalists that settled in "The New Settlement" (Essex County) and the Western District (which includes Kent County and other parts or South Western Ontario)with the students and public. If anyone has information on a Loyalist settling in any of these areas that they would like to contribute please contact me.

Bringing the Loyalists to life with these family stories however small gives the students as well as public a better understanding of what things were like for these unsung heroes and heroines.

We had our first two classes of the year from Kingsville Public School, join us for our Loyalist Programme on the 26 and 28 of April. Both days were very successful and we all enjoyed out time there with the students. I would personally like to thank Susan Hutchins, Bill and Tilly McAgy, Linda Iler, Christine Rawlins, Linda Lynch, Bob McCracken and Stuart Cruickshank for all their hard work and dedication to this Programme. These students take a way a real understanding of how hard it was to come to complete and utter wilderness and start all over again. They were really excited about what they had learned and gained an appreciation for the Loyalists and early settlers of this country.

...Kimberly Hurst, UE, Bicentennial Branch {gypsygirl2002 AT aol DOT com} how do I email her?

Lady Loyalists: we got cousins

Would you mind passing this along to Bill McReynolds, since he and I are very distant cousins somehow. Rachel Babcock was the mother-in-law to my earliest known ancestor Thaddeus Scott. I had planned on doing a certificate application with her one day too, but just didn't get around to it. I would like to get in touch with him.

...Ed

The Friends of the Loyalist Collection at Brock University

The Friends of the Loyalist Collection at Brock University thank George Anderson and Ed Kipp, organizers of the excellent UELAC Boston Research Trip, for their very generous donation of the surplus funds from the trip to help increase the Collection. We appreciate their continuing support for this project.

Thanks to Ed Kipp who created a new revised CD Index to the Carleton Papers. He donated a copy of this new Index to the Collection. It is very user friendly and makes the material in the Carleton Papers easily accessible to researchers.

The Friends of the Loyalist Collection at Brock University are meeting with the Brock History Department staff and plan to purchase more films soon.

...Beverly Craig, UE Secretary Treasurer, FOTLCABU

The Spring Fleet ... in Vancouver

The Vancouver Branch UELAC held their Spring Fleet Luncheon on Sunday, 01 May 2005 at Confederation Centre in Burnaby, BC. The luncheon celebrated the Landing of our Loyalist ancestors in the spring of 1783. Members plus their spouses were feted to a wonderful lunch.

Special guest, Pacific Regional Vice-President, Shirley Dargatz, U.E. was in attendance and conducted the Certificate Ceremony for Vancouver member, Janet White [Ancestor –JOHN CARL(e)] who received her UE certificate.

Shirley Dargatz, U.E. was assisted in the presentation by Pacific Regional Councillor and Vancouver Branch Genealogist, Carl Stymiest, U. E. and Vancouver Branch President, Mary Anne Bethune.

Vancouver will be attending Chilliwack Branch's Spring Fleet ceremonies on 14 May.

...Carl Stymiest

History Detective: News gets around

Harold Cook UE, President of Manitoba Branch forwarded a newsclipping from the Medicine Hat News dated April 26 which described the History Detective filming in Brockville/Prescott and noted the United Empire Loyalists. Love the publicity!! The Toronto Sun had a third of a page coverage on Saturday May 14.

The Winslow Papers at the University of New Brunswick

The first historian to make extensive use of the Winslow manuscripts was the Rev. W. O. Raymond who published his transcriptions and biographical notes in 1901. Raymond's edition contained 650 letters and documents, roughly one-quarter of the estimated 2,500 items in the collection which covers the period 1695 to 1866. As Raymond noted in his preface, the papers "shed much light upon the attitude of the Loyalists in the American Revolution and the circumstances that attended their settlement in the maritime provinces at the close of the war." (Winslow Papers AD 1776-1826.)

Through the efforts of Lord Beaverbrook, the vast Winslow collection came to UNB in 1956. The papers were re-organized into chronological order and secured in cases, made in England, to art historian J. Russell Harper's specifications.

Over the next 20 years, as time permitted, preliminary indexing was done by author and date, and a shelf list (inventory) was prepared. However, little information about the content of each manuscript was recorded. In 1983, local historian Barry Grant was hired to index the papers more fully using microfilm copies and photostats. This significant achievement was completed in three years, providing researchers with an approach to subjects long-buried.

In 1983, Harold Holland, paper conservator at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, produced his "Conservation study of the Winslow Papers" which provided the impetus for UNB to request funding for the restoration of the papers. Kenelm and Marjorie Winslow (of Brockville, ON) graciously financed the extensive treatment which was undertaken by staff at the Provincial Archives and completed in 1992.

Barry Grant's card index was converted to electronic format to permit the creation of a searchable database. After the completion of the restoration project, which included the use of mylar sleeves to protect the documents, it was then possible to scan (or digitize) each page when this new technology became available in the library. Each of 13,000 images of letters, documents, and letter-books was then linked to the appropriate database record.

The Electronic Edition of the Winslow Papers showcases this unique New Brunswick resource and represents the culmination of 50 years' commitment by the University of New Brunswick to the Winslow legacy.

...Mary Flagg, University Archivist

Loyalist Day June 19 Plans for Ontario

Plans for celebrating Loyalist Day in Hamilton are going ahead well, and we are proud to announce that our keynote speaker this year will be the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, The Honourable James K. Bartleman.

Please mark your calendar now - June 18 (Saturday) at the Loyalist Monument in Prince's Square, 50 Main Street, East, Hamilton at 11a.m.

Once again the Hamilton All Star Jazz Band Quintet will lead us in the anthems and dignitaries will be our honoured guests.

We count on our local members and friends to be present to make this a gala event, and especially this year, we urge you to be with us and show support as we remember our ancestors who settled this area and other regions of our country.

The text of the formal invitation is included below and will be mailed to members in the area. Please be in touch and let us know you will be attending.

...Gloria M. Oakes UE, Hamilton Branch

A wonderful afternoon has been planned for the members of the Bicentennial Branch, their families and the public this year.

At 1 pm on Saturday June 18th we will gather in the garden at the Charlie Campbell Military Museum in Kingsville's Historical Park and raise the Loyalist Flag to celebrate our Loyalist ancestors. A piper from the Kingsville area will play during the raising of the flag.

Following the ceremony the Charlie Campbell Military Museum will open it's doors to everyone as we demonstrate what life was like for our Loyalists with interactive stations placed through out the grounds as well as in the museum.

We welcome all those who wish to attend and look forward to meeting a new friend or two.

...Kimberly Hurst U.E.

Treasury Loyalists

My understanding is a "Treasury Loyalist" is one who left the 13 colonies and went to the UK where they received compensation. Things were really not good there, and they eventually returned to Canada.

I think the Report on Nomenclature produced for the Association in the 1970s has a proper definition.

...Bill Smy UE

These people were Loyalists who fled or were expelled from America, mainly during the early years of the revolt. They expected to return to their homes as soon as British forces put down the puny rebels. Generally lacking resources or soon using up what they brought with them, they relied upon the government to support them. Many received pensions or allowances. The longer the war went on, the more of a drain on the Treasury they became. So much so, that when Sir Guy Carleton (as Lord Dorchester) returned to England, the Treasury sought him out to settle the various problems connected with them expediently and as economically as possible.

In '91 I took a vacation trip to England to do research in the PRO. Strangely, I did not find the records for which I had references, but I did stumble upon some important papers about these very people. It was a great thrill to come upon these in the Sir Guy Carleton correspondence and the others. The references and photocopies were passed on via Norman Crowder to Thomas Wm. Sylvester, Cloudbanks, Stella, Ont. K0H 2S0. I believe he has since published works on the subject.

...John Ruch

I did find something that states a Treasury Loyalist is one who went back to England and received money for their losses. If they returned to Canada they did not have any claim to free land. If this is true we believe that our descendant was put on this list by mistake in 1802 and that is why he is put back on the UE list in 1808.

...Cheri Ross

A Treasury Loyalist is one who, either by design, or by having his ship blown off course on the way to the Maritimes (or elsewhere), went to England and had his claims for losses paid there (by the British Treasury). Most did not come back to Canada but those who did did not receive free land nor did their children. They had already been compensated. The term UE was how the Land Board kept track of those who received free land and those who did not. After the second generation, when they used SUE and DUE, the term was never used again. It was not used as we use it today.

...Libby Hancocks, Dominion Genealogist

I guess it is possible that a Treasury Loyalist could have come to Canada for a while before going to England and receiving money from the Treasury while there. There could be a lot of permutations and combinations I suppose. Oh well.

...Doug Grant

I don't think that is probable. If he got to Canada he would have received land. If he then went back to England he would not have received money because he had already been paid. They seem to have kept pretty good track of who got what. However, I guess anything is possible.

...Libby

"The Loyalists who returned to England, whether by choice or not, received payment for their losses in England; they became known as 'Treasury Loyalists.' Afterwards, if they decided to return to Canada to settle, they were no longer entitled to free land. The Loyalists who settled in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick received free land but their children did not. Within a few years, many who settled there moved to Upper Canada. When Simcoe was named Lieutenant-Governor in 1791, he asked many of his old officers who had settled in the Maritimes to come and help him with his settlement plans in Upper Canada; many did. Some of them had their names recorded in the 'U.E. List,' but they had to prove that no land had been given to them in the Maritimes."

...extracted from "Who Were the Loyalists?" by F. Eleanor Chapin, posted on the Grand River Branch website here

I believe that my own UEL ancestor, Captain Robert Wilkins (1743-1836), was in fact a "Treasury Loyalist". He was originally a British cavalry officer of the 17th Light Dragoons (born in Ashby-de-la Zouche, Leicestershire, England) who, after serving in Scotland and then in Ireland, was transferred to N. America in time to fight at Bunker Hill. He was eventually wounded so badly at the Battle of White Plains that he could no longer hold his sword (I have the sword) and had to leave the Army and become a civilian colonist, thus qualifying later as a Loyalist. He became a grocer (I think) on Maiden Lane, New York City. He expended a considerable amount of money raising other troops to fight for the Crown during the hostilities. He also joined the "Roseway Associates", a group of Loyalists intent on petitioning Gov. Parr of Nova Scotia for land in that province when all hope of defeating the revolutionaries was lost. He left New York in charge of a company of Loyalists bound for Port Roseway (now Shelburne, N.S.) in June 1783. I believe he was granted a town lot and a water lot there, but returned to England in 1789 to press his claim for compensation for the personal moneys he had expended in raising troops to fight for the King during the Revolution. He was eventually awarded some 300 pounds, 10 shillings and 7 pence New York currency as compensation. When in England, he somehow contacted, or was contacted by, John Graves Simcoe who had commanded the Queen's Rangers during the War. Simcoe invited Capt. Wilkins to join a group of what I understand were 100 families (mostly Loyalist refugees with previous experience of North America and proven loyalty to the Crown) who would be willing to return to N. America and take up land grants in Upper Canada, following its creation as a separate province pursuant to the Constitutional Act, 1791. This group, as far as I know, came to be called the "Treasury Loyalists". Capt. Robert Wilkins accepted the offer, returning to this continent in 1792 and ended up getting 3000 acres of land for himself and 600 for each of his three children in the area around Carrying Place, just outside Trenton, on the Bay of Quinte, after failing, for various reasons, to get land around Johnstown (now Cornwall).

...Robert Wilkins U.E., President, Heritage Branch

Response re Captain Henry Ruiter family

In the Archives of the Hamilton branch UELAC, there is a book published in 1974 by Rick J. Ashton entitled the Life of Henry Ruiter 1742-1819. John Ruiter born 1768, Hoosic, NY is listed as one of his sons , but the majority of the descendants listed stem from son Frederick. Of particular interest may b the Will of Henry Ruiter 1803.

Another good source is available from the Sir John Johnson Branch namely The Loyalists of the Eastern Townships of Quebec. In additional to many detailed references to Henry Ruiter there is also a list of the Charter members who were descendants of Hendrick Ruiter.

If you go to the Education Folder of www.uelac.org and check The Loyalists, Pioneers and Settlers of Quebec, the Teacher's Resource for Chapter IX "What Was the Special Case of the Eastern Townships?" You will find additional material on the Ruiter Family. You will also find more information in the article entitled Loyalist Women.

The book The Loyalists of Quebec 1774 - 1825, published by the Heritage Branch, has some information on the Ruiter boys.

...Fred H. Hayward UE

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