Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2006 Archive

In this issue:
- Fredericton Branch Comment
- Free Day at UEL Heritage Park - August 2, 2006
- Loyalist Bibliography Updated
- Hyatt Schoolhouse, Little Forks Branch
- Dufferin Height Monuments Restoration Project in Stanstead Quebec
- Local heritage crumbling away; Province needs to take action, says local historian
- Irish Family History Workshop, August 19, 2006, Toronto Branch OGS
- Died This Day
      + Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe (Tuesday, 18 July 1851)
      + General John Prideaux (Wednesday, 19 July 1759)
- Queries
      + Response re Families of James Major Grant and Wife Penuel (Widow Grant)
      + Response re James Green Regiment
      + Response re Wright Weeks
      + Responses (2) re William Carley

Fredericton Branch Comment

Truly sad news about the Fredericton Branch. I was a member of both Fredericton and Saint John for many years and when I needed to cut back, I kept my Saint John membership because it was closer to Westfield where my ancestor settled in 1786. I hope the membership rolls increase to where we can open Fredericton again. I will still wear my loyalist sweatshirt with pride that still says; Fredericton/Saint John New Brunswick Branches.

...Paul J. Bunnell, UE

Free Day at UEL Heritage Park - August 2, 2006

The United Empire Loyalist Heritage Centre and Park located on the Loyalist Parkway at Adolphustown is holding a free day-use admission to the Park on Wednesday August 2nd to thank the Bay of Quinte area residents for supporting the park for 50 years. The park was established by the Province of Ontario in 1956 to mark the landing spot of the Loyalists and has run successfully since that time. Local residents are invited to come out for the day to enjoy the beach, bring along and enjoy a picnic lunch, stroll through the park, and tour the facilities. Some refreshments will also be available on site. You may also see the site of the landing of the Loyalists, the first Loyalist Cemetery in Ontario, or visit our museum in historic Allison House on the grounds. Other activities are planned for the day as well. The Mountain View Womens’ Institute will be present with some craft work displays. There will a few re-enactors from the Loyalist period on site as well. The highlight of the day will be a free concert by the HMCS Ontario Sea Cadet Concert Band from Kingston. This is a 70-plus member student band made up of top Sea Cadet musicians from across Canada who are attending the summer cadet program in Kingston, Ontario. They will be performing an hour concert beginning at 1:30PM in the park, so don’t miss this opportunity to see a fine young band live. Visitors are asked to bring along lawn chairs for the concert. For further information on the Park and activities, visit our website or phone the park at 613-373-2196.

Loyalist Bibliography Updated

If you haven't been there before, A United Empire Loyalists' Bibliography of the American Revolution, and the Post War Settlement of the Loyalists (compiled by Lieutenant Colonel William A. Smy, OMM, CD, UE) has been posted on our web site by Ed Scot UE. There are currently eighteen parts to the bibliography, covering "Manuscript Collections & Government Records" (part 2) to "British-Indian Department" (part 7) and everything in between.

We're always looking for additions to the UEL Bibliography which is carried on the UELA website. If you know of material which should be included, send it to Bill Smy: {bill_smy AT yahoo DOT com} how do I email him?

Required info: Author; Title; Place of publication; Date of publication.

...Bill Smy and Ed Scott

Hyatt Schoolhouse, Little Forks Branch

We have been quite busy at the school. Milt. constructed three new signs and I had the job of painting them. There are two down on Highway 147 to indicate our school and one up in front of the school. All 26 tent poles got re-painted and we got our 30' X 60' Tent up on the specific space made for it. All of the grounds have been groomed and with so much rain, keeping ahead of the grass is quite a task, but our two senior volunteers do a splendid job! Sunday, June 25th. the Waterville United Church Parish, which consists of Waterville, North Hatley and Hatley held their annual Church Service and picnic under the Tent. A gentleman brought his electric key board and the music and hymn singing filled the valley.Naturally this activity brought new people to see our school. Our tour guide ( the same girl as last year) also commenced her duties that day which was great and she will be with us for six weeks: Wednesday to Sunday, 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

This Saturday there is a Family Re-union being held at the school, weather permitting outside, if not in the basement. We are planning to hold a BBQ and Corn Boil later in the Fall as a Fund-Raiser.

...Bev Loomis, President, Little Forks Branch

Dufferin Height Monuments Restoration Project in Stanstead Quebec

As for the Dufferin Height Monuments, the Veteran one has been restored and the Pioneer one ( the last time we visited the area) had been completely demolished and apparently the Committee is waiting for the contractor. Here is a report:

(Summer 2006 issue, Stanstead Historical Society Newsletter) Our steering Committee is happy to report that we have made great progress in different areas of this project since the last newsletter. First, we have reached our fundraising goal of $50,000 in cash and in donations of materials and services. A significant donation of $1,000 by the Little Forks Branch of the United Empire Loyalists, made in a formal presentation at the May SHS Board meeting, brought us over the top. Written solicitations to members of the Dufferin Heights Country Club resulted in generous donations and thus contributed much to the overall success of the campaign.

The other good news is that the actual restoration work on the monument is well under way. Contractor Jean D'Arcy did a thorough repair job on the War Memorial by repointing the entire structure, resetting fallen stones and rebuilding the memorial top using epoxy cement. As planned, the Pioneer Monument was carefully dismantled to save all the significant exterior features which will be reinstalled in the rebuilt monument. The base of the monument was found to be stone rubble going down about 2 1/2 feet to rock ledge. The hole for the new reinforced concrete foundation has been excavated in the same location and the work will continue as soon as the wet weather of the last few weeks lets up and the much-delayed foundation contractor can find some time for us. (Report by Harry Isbrucker.)

...Bev Loomis, President, Little Forks Branch

Local heritage crumbling away; Province needs to take action, says local historian

July 2006, Cornwall. As you speed along Highway 138, through the town of St. Andrews West, history's there waving at you from the side of the road. On the west side is the Pioneer Graveyard, up from the St. Andrew's Cemetery, where the bones of Ontario's first premier, John Sandfield Macdonald, rest under a solemn stone marker. On the east side is Quinn's Inn - the three-storey stone inn Macdonald built before Canada was even a country.

The push to raise the profile of not just Sandfield Macdonald's grave, but the graves of all former Ontario premiers, comes courtesy of Stormont-Dundas-Charlottenborough MPP Jim Brownell. In November 2005, Brownell introduced a private member's bill at Queen's Park that would require premiers' burial sites to be marked with both a flag and a commemorative plaque. With Bill 25 inching ever closer to being given royal assent, Brownell is in the midst of an Ontario-wide publicity tour, and is planning to visit all 18 gravesites and lay wreaths and flowers at their base.

Brownell is yet to pay a visit to either of the two premiers whose remains reside in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry - Macdonald, and James Pliny Whitney, Ontario's fifth premier. And while Whitney's gravesite outside of Morrisburg has been well-maintained, the Pioneer Graveyard, which contains not only Macdonald but also noted Canadian explorer Simon Fraser, has seen better days. A six-foot section of the stone wall surrounding the modest graveyard has crumbled away. So too have individual graves. Part of the current wall is being held up by a wooden buttress.

Ian Bowering, curator at the Cornwall Community Museum, hopes that if Brownell's bill passes, more care will be paid to maintaining the gravesites. But he also thinks that, in some ways, the physical deterioration of Macdonald's and Fraser's gravesites is an apt metaphor for the way in which many Ontarians - and in particular, citizens of S, D, and G - have forgotten their own history. "In this area, (historical figures like Macdonald and Whitney) are not as celebrated as they would be in England, the United States, even Quebec," says Bowering, pointing out that mapmaker David Thompson and renowned Toronto mayor Nathan Phillips all lived for a time in the Cornwall area.

John Sandfield Macdonald Dec. 12, 1812, in Glengarry County, Upper Canada - June 1, 1872, in Cornwall.

When Confederation created the province of Ontario in 1867, Sandfield Macdonald became its first premier. Born and raised near St. Raphael's in Glengarry County, Macdonald founded the Cornwall Freeholder, a predecessor to the Standard-Freeholder, and served as the president of the Cornwall Police Board. He was initially suspicious of Confederation, in particular the threat that it posed to the French minority, but nonetheless was elected Premier of Ontario on July 15, 1867. He was defeated in 1871, and died of tuberculosis in Cornwall one year later.

Simon Fraser 1776 in Mapletown, Vermont - Aug. 18, 1862, near Cornwall.

The son of Scottish Highlanders, Fraser was a fur trader and explorer who charted much of British Columbia. In 1805, the Northwest Company Company commissioned Fraser to find a navigable trading route through the Rockies and establish settlements along the way. In 1807, Fraser founded modern-day Prince George, and in 1808 explored the river which now bears his name. In 1820, Fraser settled in the Cornwall area, and died there in 1862.

James Pliny Whitney Oct. 2, 1843, in Williamsburg Township, Upper Canada - Sept. 25, 1914, in Toronto.

Ontario's fifth premier, James Pliny Whitney practised law in Morrisburg and studied under John Sandfield Macdonald before being chosen as the leader of the provincial Conservatives in 1896. Elected in 1905, Whitney oversaw the creation of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, known today as Hydro One. His reputation is marred by his banning of French at all levels beyond elementary school in 1912, and his opposition to women being given the right to vote. Whitney served as Premier from 1905-14, and died three months after leaving office.

...Excerpted from an article by Trevor Pritchard as published by the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder

[Submitted by Michael Eamer UE, St. Lawrence Branch]

Irish Family History Workshop, August 19, 2006, Toronto Branch OGS

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society will be holding an all-day workshop for those interested in researching their Irish ancestry on August 19, North York Central Library Auditorium, 5120 Yonge Street.

Attendees will be able to choose from nine sessions with topics as diverse as planning a trip to Dublin, and Internet sources for Irish research. In recognition of the upcoming 160th anniversary of the height of the Irish Famine, several speakers will address aspects of Famine immigration to Canada.

This informal, late-summer workshop will appeal to both seasoned family history researchers and those just beginning to investigate their Irish ancestry. Space is limited. Early registration is recommended. Cost $27 until August 1.

For information and registration, call 416-733-2608 (voice mail) or visit torontofamilyhistory.org.

Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe (Tuesday, 18 July 1851)

British Army officer born in Boston on July 15, 1763.

In an act that split his family, some of whom were revolutionaries, he was commissioned in the British Army in 1778, two years after the start of the American War of Independence. After having served in the Napoleonic Wars, he was posted to Upper Canada as second-in-command to General Isaac Brock. When Brock was killed during the Battle of Queenston Heights on Oct 13, 1812, he took over and switched tactics, pushing his troops up the heights from the back. There, they took the Americans by surprise and recaptured the heights. American casualties were 1,000, compared with less than 50 for Sheaffe's men. He was later made Lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada. An unpopular leader of troops, he was even less well liked by civilians after he unsuccessfully defended York against an American raid. While he was strategically correct in saving his small garrison, the townspeople never forgave him and he was recalled.

General John Prideaux (Wednesday, 19 July 1759)

British Army officer who commanded at Youngstown N.Y., during the seven years war.

In 1759, the British mounted an attack on Fort Niagara as part of a campaign to remove the French from the Great Lakes. Prideau laid siege to the 600 French defenders. He was killed when he mistakenly stepped in front of a mortar during the bombardment. He was replaced by Sir William Johnson.

Response re Families of James Major Grant and Wife Penuel (Widow Grant)

Thank you for your help. Yesterday was a very productive day as I managed to contact a direct descendant of William and Ann Maidstone Hillman Grant. An author out of New Brunswick wrote a book on Grant Connections. Lisa, a descendant of William, is going to obtain a copy tonight. Apparently all the Grants of New Brunswick are related to each other.

Thank you for your help!

...Becky Grant

Response re James Green Regiment

It would seem that this James Green was a sergeant in the Kings American Regiment. Esther Clark Wright lists him as such in "The Loyalists of New Brunswick". One record of land grants applications (there are several in Queens County, NB from 1785-1811) shows his Regimental affiliation. Finally in all of the multi-person land grant applications he is applying for a grant along with other non-officer applicants. Officers applied and were granted larger tracks of land than the enlisted.

...Steve Bolton UE, Saint John Branch

Response re Wright Weeks

I saw your query in the Loyalist Trails re Westchester Refugees. Wright Weeks is listed in Marion Gilroy's book Loyalists and Land Settlements in Nova Scotia. In 1785 he was awarded 250 acres on Cobequid Road in Cumberland County. He is also listed on a plaque on a Loyalist monument at North Wallace, NS along with 238 other Loyalists.

...Lew Perry, Halifax-Dartmouth Branch

Responses (2) re William Carley

This is the response that I received from our query in Loyalist Trails -- The interesting thing about this is that our family - that of John and Sarah Sherwood Carley who were married in 1731 and who would have been the parents of William, lived in Fairfield County, CT up to 1759/60 when her father's Will (David Sherwood) states that the family had moved into the Oblong of Dutchess County. Most of the identifiable Carleys/Kerleys who fought in the Dutchess County Militia during the Rev War were related to this family.

Sarah Sherwood Carley was a distant cousin of Adiel Sherwood who was, according to published accounts of his life, a very active thorn in the side of the British troops seeking to quell rebellion in Fairfield County --

This is re "Adiel, Jr."

From Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. 17, pages 103-104: "A Baptist clergyman, educator, was born at Fort Edwards, NY. His father, Adiel, who had married his second cousin, Sarah (Sherwood) was a descendant of Thomas Sherwood who had emigrated to Boston in 1634 and in 1645 settled in Stratford, Conn. The elder Adiel was a farmer, Revolutionary soldier, member of the New York legislature, and a personal friend of George Washington. He entered Middlebury College, Vermont, in 1813, but after three years transferred to Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., where he graduated in 1817.

Threatened with tuberculosis, on the advice of physicians he removed to Georgia, taking with him recommendations to leading Baptist ministers of that state. He landed in Savannah in 1818. ...In 1865 he settled in St. Louis, Mo. where he resided until his death. He was twice married, first 17 May 1821, to Anne Adams Smith, widow of Gov. Peter Early; she died in Nov. 1822 and in May 1824 he married Emma Heriot of Charleston, S.C. who with one son, Thomas Adiel Sherwood and four daughters survived him."

Thanks for publishing my query for William

...Judy

I am related to William Carle…about his origin right before Canada:

1795 – came to NEWCASTLE – MURRAY DISTRICT, there is testimony from Justice of Peace (2), thereafter, lived in Cramahe.

Don’t know when he died or where.

An affidavit dated July 10, 1807, made by Christopher Winters of Twsp. Haldimand, Northunberland County, stated that he was well acquainted with William Carl now living in Cramahe and that William Carl and his family lived in Dutchess County, New York before the late revolution; that the said William Carl left home during the late war and joined the British Standard at NY and that he saw horses and cattle belonging to the said Carl taken by the rebels and sold for the benefit of the US. This William Carl received land grants, as did his son, Joseph Carl. Joseph Carl mar. Welmpy Carl (daug. of James Peck of Amesliasburg, also a UE loyalist).

1800, January 7, State of NY, Dutchess County. Israel Carpenter of the town of CLINTON, testified that William Carl was on the British Line during the war

1806, December 22 – JOHN LEONARD of the Midland District, testified that William Carl of Cramache was a loyalist and Carl was with the Army at NEW YORK UNDER General Clinton.

1807, January 9, Murray District of Newcastle, by certification by J. McMucker, J.P. & Robert Young J.P.

We certify that the bearer, William Carl came into this part of the provence with his family in the year 1795 and has continued to reside here ever since.

Direct Descendants of William Carle:

1. William Carle, 1735 -

+ unknown 1740 -

2. Joseph Carl, 1778 – 1837 prob. b. NY

+ Wellempie Peck, 1785 – 1852 b. Nova Scotia

3. Elizabeth Carl, 1806 – 1869 b. Prince Edward County

+ Cornelius Puffer, 1793 – 1850 b. USA

4. Laura Jane Puffer, 1835 – 1908 b. Northumberland

+ Isaac Whitney, 1834 - 1917 b. Northumberland b

5. Victoria Ann Whitney, 1860 - 1930 b. Northumberland

+ Leslie Alford Short, 1853 – 1915 b. Northumberland

6. Raymond Celester Short, b. Stockton, California

+ Ellen Millie May (Helen Nellie) Brint, b. Lions Head ONT

... and a couple more generations, you find me.

...Eleanore Dilello

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.