Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2006 Archive

In this issue:
- Regina Branch Goes On-line
- Conference Update: "At The End of The Trail" May 31 - June 3rd, 2007 Windsor Ontario
- Comment on Daniel F. Johnson's Papers in New Brunswick
- The Ward Chipman Papers, New Brunswick
- A Chronology of Ontario History for Family Historians, By Rick Roberts
- Champlain Society Digital Collection
- Commons Approves Motion for State Funeral for Last World War Veteran
- Native American Honoured by Queen
- Last Post
      + Margaret Henry
      + Mary Louise (Chapin) Williamson
- Died This Day
      + James Bruce Elgin, 20 Nov. 1863 (Globe & Mail)
      + Sir Martin Frobisher, 22 November, 1594 (Globe & Mail)
      + Jonathan Odell, 24 November, 1818 (Globe & Mail)

Regina Branch Goes On-line

The Regina Branch has developed a small web site to get started, and has a plan to grow. Congratulations to the Regina team.

Conference Update: "At The End of The Trail" May 31 - June 3rd, 2007 Windsor Ontario

On Friday, for those wishing to attend afternoon seminars, there is a morning tour. The history here is exciting.

Travel to Olde Sandwich Towne, an old Loyalist Settlement dating back to 1796 when Detroit was ceded to the Americans in accordance to the Jay Treaty. Those wishing to remain Loyal to the Crown moved across the Detroit River to Sandwich and other areas of Essex County.

First stop will be the McGregor-Cowan House on Sandwich Street. Built by James McGregor, son of Loyalist Gregor McGregor circa 1808, this home is the second oldest building in Windsor and the oldest privately owned home in Essex County.

Walk through the town viewing murals depicting the early French Settlers and the founding of Sandwich as well as the infamous Simon Girty. At the Duff Baby House, learn about the history of this incredible "Frontier Mansion" and view a replica of the Baby Mill across the street.

At Mill and Sandwich, murals depict The Battle of Windsor and the War of 1812. More murals present the incredible history of the Black Slaves, and Benedict Arnold's grand daughter, Margaret Arnold McEwan.

The oldest Anglican Cemetery west of Niagara is at St. John’s Anglican Church, the first in Essex County. The meetings began on this site as early as 1797, and the earliest burial was recorded in 1802.

The Sandwich First Baptist Church was an incredible stop on the "Road To Freedom" for many black slaves as they escaped to Canada.

The afternoon will be quite interesting with speakers on various topics. Stay tuned for more details.

...Kimberly Hurst UE for the Conference Committee

Comment on Daniel F. Johnson's Papers in New Brunswick

In your Nov.5th e-newsletter, you provided a link to the NB Provincial Archives and the VitalStats site representing the work of Daniel Johnson (Daniel F. Johnson’s New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics database). With this tip from you, I went to the site. It is amazing! I found newspaper clippings-births, deaths, marriages and misc. articles- on all 5 of my Loyalist surname families. Re-prints of articles from virtually all NB papers available to me on-line that, to obtain otherwise, I would either have to visit in person (each paper) or hire a researcher.

...James Oborne, Manitoba Branch

The Ward Chipman Papers, New Brunswick

Ward Chipman the Elder, (1754-1824), a Massachusetts lawyer, was also an army administrator in the State of New York between 1777 and 1783. In 1784, he settled in New Brunswick, where he served as solicitor general until 1808. The Ward Chipman Papers contain muster rolls of Loyalists, and their families, who were members of demobilized regiments and who settled in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This research tool provides access to nearly 19,000 references to Loyalist families. Click here to access these records.

A Chronology of Ontario History for Family Historians, By Rick Roberts

This listing of historical events in Ontario prior to 1941 is designed to assist family historians in locating the civil and religious records that are required in a genealogy project. Maps outlining boundary changes through Ontario's history are included. Updated November 22, 2006. Click here for the complete column.

Champlain Society Digital Collection

For more than 100 years, the Champlain Society has increased public access to Canada's rich documentary heritage. Explore four centuries of adventure, travel, social change, economic growth, and nation building through the Society's books and on-line Digital Collection. This is your history - experience it through the words and images of those who were there - including such topics as:

- Kingston before the War of 1812: a collection of documents - covers the early period of settlement by the Loyalists from 1784

- Windsor Border region - focuses on the 18th century, including 1750 census of Detroit (p. 54)

- Town of York, 1793-1815: a collection of documents of early Toronto

- Loyalist narratives from Upper Canada - letters, petitions, memoirs, obituaries (e.g. page vii: Jarvis, Ruttan, Michael Grass, Rev. John Stuart. Index begins on page 401.

[submitted by Nancy Conn UE]

Commons Approves Motion for State Funeral for Last World War Veteran

You did it!

Thanks to you and the over 90,000 people who signed our petition for a State Funeral for the last veteran of the First World War, the Parliament of Canada unanimously passed the following motion introduced by M.P. Peter Stoffer on Tuesday, November 21:

"That, in the opinion of this House, the Government of Canada should honour all who served Canada in the First World War by sponsoring a State Funeral on the passing of the last Canadian veteran of this Great War."

This binding motion will ensure that at the appropriate time the family of the last veteran of the Great War will be offered a full State Funeral to recognize the service and sacrifice of their loved one and the 600,000 fellow Canadians who served under arms from 1914 to 1918.

This brings to a conclusion the Dominion Institute's public campaign for a State Funeral for the last First World War veteran.

On behalf of all the veterans, staff and volunteers at the Dominion Institute thank you for supporting for this important national cause!

...Rudyard Griffiths, Executive Director, The Dominion Institute

Native American Honoured by Queen

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip paid their respects recently to Mahomet Weyonomon, of the Mohegan tribe, who died of smallpox in London in 1736. The Queen was presented with a peace pipe at the memorial service, a symbol of the righting of a wrong. Click here for more details (from the BBC).

[submitted by Nancy Conn UE]

James Bruce Elgin, 20 Nov. 1863 (Globe & Mail)

Colonial administrator born on July 20, 1811, in London.

Born to an aristocratic family. he enjoyed years of brilliance at Eton and Oxford. He first served as governor of Jamaica before being named governor-general of British North America in 1847. He helped to bring about responsible government, but only after a period of crisis. In 1849, he signed a bill compensating French Canadians for property losses, an act that caused armed conflict in what is now Ottawa, and riots in Quebec during which he was personally assaulted by angry mobs. The Quebec Parliament buildings were also razed. His final post was governor general of India. He died as the 8th Earl of Elgin, 12th Earl of Kincardine, in Dharmsala, India. Kincardine, Ont., is named after him.

Sir Martin Frobisher, 22 November, 1594 (Globe & Mail)

Admiral and Explorer born near Wakefield, England, in 1539.

The youngest of five children, he was raised by an uncle and given a basic education. In 1544, he went to sea for the first time; by 1560, he had won his first command. In 1576, he navigated west of Greenland in search of a passage to Asia and discovered Frobisher Bat. In 1577, he made a second voyage. A year later he returned on a special mission and in command of a flotilla of 15 vessels. Believing he had found gold, he loaded thousands of tons of ore and returned home in triumph, only to learn it was worthless iron pyrite. Later, he accompanied Sir Francis Drake to the West Indies and was knighted for heroism against the Spanish Armada (1588). He died of wounds sustained in fighting the Spanish near Brest, France.

Jonathan Odell, 24 November, 1818 (Globe & Mail)

Doctor, clergyman, Loyalist, spy and poet born in Newark, N.J., in 1737.

Descended from settlers in the original Massachusetts Bay Colony , he studied medicine for a time and then switched to theology. He was ordained an Anglican priest in London in 1767. Given a parish in Burlington, N.J., he was an outspoken supporter of the crown. At the outbreak of the U.S. War of Independence, his Loyalist sympathies caused rebels to burn his house and seize his property. Forced to depart for New York, he served as superintendent of printing and, by happenstance, began working for British Intelligence. He was best known for acting as a liaison between Benedict Arnold, the American general, and John Andre, the British officer who was later executed as a spy. As a poet his works mostly satirized the rebels and roused his fellow Loyalists. After the war he emigrated with other Loyalists to New Brunswick, where he was rewarded with the post of provincial secretary. He died in Fredericton.

Margaret Henry

Margaret Henry UE passed away on September 19, 2006 at Perth, ON. She lived in Guelph she took sick at their summer home. The funeral was on September 23. She was a member of Grand River Branch.

Mary Louise (Chapin) Williamson

An Associate Member of Grand River Branch, Mary Louise (Chapin) Williamson, from Brantford passed away on November 14. Her sisters were the late Ruth Gould who was very instrumental in the beginnings of the Grand River Branch UELAC and a former Branch President, and Eleanor Chapin who has been very active in the Branch since its beginning, and served as Genealogist for several years.

...Ellen Tree, Grand River Branch

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