Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2007 Archive

In this issue:
- Help Restore St. Paul's Stained Glass Windows in Birchtown NS
- Crediting the Loyalists: A Long Reach?
- Publicity and Promotion in AAA Magazine
- Battle of Plattsburg, Sept 11, 1814 Commemorations to be Held Sept 7 - 9, 2007
- Queries
      + Connect with Bay Chaleur (Gaspe, Quebec) Loyalist Researchers
      + Machiche, Quebec & Other Refugee Camps – Any Update?
      + Information on James McCullough
      + Information Johns / Burritt Connection
      + Response re David Dulmage Family Through Son Jacob

Help Restore St. Paul's Stained Glass Windows in Birchtown NS

In the spring and summer newsletter of the Black Loyalist Heritage Society, I discovered a worthy project that could benefit from the generosity of UELAC members. St. Paul's Anglican Church, built in 1905 but closed in 1989, was officially de-consecrated on May 6th, 2007 by Bishop Fred Hiltz. Now St. Paul's is an important part of the Black Loyalist site in Birchtown, Nova Scotia. Cliff Armsworthy of Stained Glass Garden has removed the windows and is in the process of repairing them so they can stand for another 100 years. In order to pay for this project, the Black Loyalist Heritage Society is looking for sponsors for each window. For $400, a restored window will be identified with a sponsor plaque.

In the spirit of continuing the relationship with the Black Loyalist Heritage Society which we established last year, I am encouraging you to help raise the necessary funds to help them once again. I plan to direct over $200.00 from this year's sale of the Black Loyalist daylily, developed by The Potting Shed, to this restoration project. If you would like to join me in this expanded fund raising venture, please mark your donation as "Black Loyalist Windows" and send it to Dominion Office at George Brown House by September 1. A tax receipt will be returned to you.

We will track donations on our web site at http://www.uelac.org/Projects-UELAC/Windows-St-Pauls.php where you can find more details and a couple of pictures.

...Fred H. Hayward UE,Senior Vice President, UELAC

Crediting the Loyalists: A Long Reach?

My boyhood summers were spent along the Long Reach of New Brunswick's majestic St. John River. I just assumed that the name Long Reach came from the fact that it described a long, beautiful stretch of river. But there is reason to believe that the name was given to "the reach" of this historic river by the United Empire Loyalists. And this may not be the only stretch of water so named by the refugees of the American Revolution.

A search of websites on the internet reveals that only three rivers in North American have sections called the Long Reach. The stretch along New Brunswick's St. John River was settled by loyalists from Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. It extends from Westfield to the mouth of the Belleisle Bay. The Long Reach of Ontario's Rideau River was also settled by loyalists from various parts of the Thirteen Colonies. It stretches from Burritts Rapids to Long Island, just north of Manotick.

The only other "long reach" in North America is located in New York --the most loyal of the Thirteen Colonies-- along the Hudson River. Is it a mere coincidence that the colony which generated the most loyalist refugees has a Long Reach while the only two other Long Reaches on the continent should be on rivers settled by loyalists?

Poughkeepsie, New York, the seat for Dutchess County, is at the centre of the oldest "long reach" in North America. From this city a ten mile stretch of the Hudson River extends north and south. It was named the Long Reach on September 29, 1609 by the first mate of the Half Moon when Henry Hudson's ship sailed along the great inland waterway. The Dutch, who eventually settled in the area, kept the name in their own language as "de Lange Rak".

One of the first loyalists to regularly navigate the St. John River was a minister who had pastored the Anglican church in Poughkeepsie. Between 1783 and 1784, Rev. John Beardsley paddled a canoe up and down the St. John River to perform christenings, marriages, funerals, and worship services.

In 1784 the Poughkeepsie vicar was given charge of the Anglican Church in Maugerville, a community just above the Long Reach of the St. John River. Beardsley conducted the first marriage ceremony along the river when he married Walter Bates and Abigail Lyon in October of 1784 in the settlement of Amesbury. By 1786 this town would eventually be called Kingston -- the same name as a community found on the Long Reach of the Hudson River, not too far from Poughkeepsie. What is especially "coincidental" is that near all three of the Long Reaches there is a community called Kingston -- one in New York, one in Ontario, and one in New Brunswick.

It is impossible to say if it was, in fact, Beardsley who christened a stretch of the St. John River the Long Reach. However, he would have visited the refugees as they established their homes and would have shared the news of the day as to what other loyalists were doing and where they were building their farms along the river. Beardsley also made reports to the leaders of the Church of England and gave descriptions of where he travelled to perform his pastoral duties. If he did not name the Long Reach of the St. John River in his letters and conversations, perhaps one of his parishioners did. Many of them had lived near the Hudson River, and they would be very familiar with "de Lange Rak". It may be that loyalists from the Hudson's shoreline were the first to call the straight stretch of the St. John River the Long Reach, and then that name came into common usage among the other settlers. But this is only speculation.

What lends this speculation some credence is the fact that only one other such geographical feature in North America carries the name "Long Reach" -- and that is on another river settled by loyalist refugees.

After the War of Independence, loyalists from the Thirteen Colonies followed the Hudson River north to present day Ontario, no doubt passing by (or over) the Long Reach. Many loyalists were given grants along the Rideau and Cataraqui Rivers. Burritts Rapids, the community at one end of Ontario's "reach" was first settled by Stephen Burritt and his brothers who laid claim to their land in 1793. There are no clues as to who actually named the stretch of the Rideau from Burritts Rapids to Manotick the Long Reach, but is seems a reasonable theory that loyalists from New York who had grown nostalgic for the Hudson River used a name from their old home to refer to a very familiar geographical formation.

Do any other readers have light to shed on this mystery? It is a watery (but fascinating) Loyalist Trail that deserves to be further explored.

...Stephen Davidson (who received his B.Ed from Queens in Kingston and whose ancestors settled in Kingston, New Brunswick)

Publicity and Promotion in AAA Magazine

The July/August issue of the American AAA magazine has just been published. Thanks to some research and promotion by our Public Relations Chair, Karen Windover, the article about traveling the North Shore of Lake Ontario from Toronto to Kingston along Route 2, includes this reference for the Belleville area "East of Trenton, the friction-filled part of Canadian-United States history comes to the fore, because reminders of the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada are common. Loyalists were the folks who declined to turn against King George III during the American Revolution. They left the original 13 colonies for this part of Ontario and other places throughout Eastern Canada. The UELAC organization is still going strong, as its weekly email newsletter and Web site attest."

...Karen Windover UE, Chair, Public Relations

Battle of Plattsburg, Sept 11, 1814 Commemorations to be Held Sept 7 - 9, 2007

The 10th Battle of Plattsburg celebrations are set for Fri. Sept. 7 through Sunday Sept 9, with some events during the week preceding. There are many events including many activities by reenactors from Canada and the United States, encampments, fireworks, musical groups, a bateau race, artisan demonstrations, museum displays, a parade, a series of concerts and much more. Click here for a more comprehensive agenda.

...Bill Glidden

Connect with Bay Chaleur (Gaspe, Quebec) Loyalist Researchers

As a new member of the Edmonton Branch I am just beginning to work on a Loyalist proof for my ancestor James Astles. He was James Astles, Jr., aboard the Brig Polly, June 1784 to Bay Chaleur settlement in Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula. He married Sarah Flowers, daughter of Robert Henry Flowers of the 29th Regiment and his wife Alice Pennington (Source: A.D. Flowers in The Loyalists of Bay Chaleur). According to the Certification list no one has yet proved James Astles. I am interested in connecting with others who have proved Bay Chaleur Loyalists or are in the process of doing so.

...Marilyn M. Astle {astle DOT marilyn AT yahoo DOT ca} how do I email her?

Machiche, Quebec & Other Refugee Camps – Any Update?

In the February 13, 2005 issue of Loyalist Trails, Gavin Watt, in response to a query from Jean Norry, states he is putting Machiche, Quebec and other refugee camps on his list of future projects. This is of great interest to me as I understand my ancestor Sarah Flowers, daughter of Robert Henry Flowers and his wife Alice Pennington was born about 1778 at Camp Machiche (source: Donald J. Flowers, personal correspondence December 26, 1995). Has Gavin or anyone else any updates on the refugee camps?

...Marilyn M. Astle {astle DOT marilyn AT yahoo DOT ca} how do I email her?

Information on James McCullough

I am looking for information about the history of my ancestor, James McCullough. He was a native of County Armagh, Ireland, who settled in South Carolina in 1761. He was a Loyalist to the Crown and served as a captain under Col. Banastre Tarleton.

He later returned to County Armagh, but then emigrated again by the time of the Irish Rebellion in 1798. He eventually settled in Melbourne, Richmond, Quebec.

I would be interested to know of any information about his military service or about his history in Canada. I understand that he may have received some land grants related to his military service to the Crown.

...J David Brandenburg {jdbrandenburg AT msn DOT com} how do I email him?

Information Johns / Burritt Connection

Looking specifically for proof that Minerva Burritt of Augusta, Grenville, ON (b. circa 1818 - d. probably before 1861) is the daughter of Daniel Burritt (b. circa 1772 in the US). Daniel Burritt is the the son of Daniel Burritt Senior, the probable husband of Sarah Landon, and I believe Daniel (junior) was a co-founder of Burritt's Rapids in 1793 along with his brothers Stephen and Edmund Burritt. I've been unable to find Minerva Burritt on the 1851 Census, nor on the 1871 Census.

Also in search of documentation that Minerva Burritt married Alden (or Aulden) Johns (1815-1872) of Elizabethtown, Leeds. This was Alden Johns's 2nd of 4 marriages. Alden's father Reuben M. ("M" for Miller) Johns was b. 1779/1780 in the US. The Minerva Burritt - Alden Johns marriage ceremony occurred no later than 1858. On page 165 of The History of Leeds and Grenville (1879), Thad. Leavitt writes: "Alden's (Johns) second wife was Minerva Burritt of Augusta; issue: Mary L. who married Thomas Mehan." William Reid, in Marriage Notices of Ontario (1980) cites a Minerva Burritt of Marlborough, Carleton County (near the township of North Grenville) who married there in 1838 (perhaps Alden Johns was Minerva Burritt's second husband?). Apparently, one of the earliest families to settle in the Marlborough area was that of Loyalist Stephen Burritt. To avoid confusion, Minerva Burritt may have had an older sister also named Minerva who died in childhood.

Final note: Alden and Minerva (Burritt) Johns's child Mary L. ("L" for Louisa) Johns (b. 1858 - d. unknown), married Thomas Mehan on 31 December 1877 in North Augusta. Thomas Mehan (Meehan/Mehon/Mechan) was b. 1858 in England or Ireland, d. 1918, and is the son of William and Lucinda Meehan. Mary L. (Johns) Meehan probably predeceased her husband. As a descendant, any information about these Johns/Burritt/Meehan families that might help will be greatly appreciated!

...Michael Broad {creeanam AT yahoo DOT com} how do I email him?

Response re Information on David Dulmage Family Through Son Jacob

I was interested because of these Dulmages and Huffs, as next door neighbours of our Davis family a long time ago in Adolphustown. Solomon and Eve and their family lived beside his brother Paul Huff in the Adolphustown 1794 Census but by 1800 Census they are living next to our Davis family on the 2 nd Concession. He bought that farm from Thomas Dorland. I think he wanted a farm that was close to the Old Hay Bay Church. There was a path through the woods on our Davis farm that came out on the 3rd concession rather close to the church. It wasn't a road allowance.

There may have been a ferry to take people to North Adolphustown across Hay Bay at that spot. I never saw this path. It would have been over grown long ago, but my father knew about it. Canniff Haight mentioned it in one of his Adolphustown stories of about 1830.

The Huff farm on lot 17 was owned by their family members up until 1967 when Lilly Carr died. In 1855 it was transferred from the Huff family to John Carr whose wife Eve was a grand daughter of Solomon Huff, and a daughter of Richard Huff.

In the 1800 Census Jacob Dulmage is living on the farm to east of our Davis farm and this was really handy for Sarah to be close to her parents. And they could all walk to church together through the woods. I'm surprised we didn't have a few Davis-Dulmage-Huff marriages.

A couple of additional possible sources you might pursue.

1. is a sentence or two in Larry Turners book called "Ernestown" ..on page 60. David and Jacob Dulmage were a part of the group of Methodists in the Switzerville area who set up a Methodist chapel in 1792. You can't use a book like this as a reference, but you might find some church documents about the building of that church that say Jacob is the son of David. Dulmage.

2. is Jacob's sad ending out in south Bay when he was coming home on the ice in 1840. The Christian Guardian has thousands of sad obituaries for faithful Methodists such as Jacob. I found a death notice there for my ancestor Henry Davis who died in Adolphustown in 1831. An obituary is not a primary document however, and even if you find one for Jacob, you may not find his father's name mentioned. but it is worth a try.

3. Eula Lapp's book about the German Palatines from Ireland coming to New York in 1760, and then to Ashgrove and the Camden Valley in Charlotte County NY might have a reference to David as the father of Jacob.She has charts of all those family groups. In her book "To Their Heirs Forever". Jacob is listed there as born in 1774. These people were the founders of the Methodist Church in the United States and Canada and as such they may have their vital statistics preserved in a museum someplace.

...Jean Norry UE

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