Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2008 Archive

In this issue:
- Saint John 225 Saturday Seminar: New Brunswick Genealogical Resources by Rose Staples, UE
- Shopkeeper, Glazier and Shoemaker, by Stephen Davidson
- Fort Ticonderoga Museum Opens May 10 for 100th Season
- Understanding the American Revolution: Searching for Balance
- Addendum: Capt. Peter Drummond, Forgotten Loyalist
- Heritage Lighthouse Bill a Step Closer to Becoming Law: Heritage Canada Foundation
- Halifax to Recognize Shelburne's Loyalist Landing
- Information Available: Families of Roger Barton and Jacob Langs
- For Sale: VanKoughnet Family History
- Last Post: Wilbert Arthur Walt, UE
- Last Post: Grant Campbell, UE
- Queries
      + Name of ship which took William Hayman and the Royal North Carolina Regiment to Nova Scotia in 1783
      + James Rogers, and Margaret and Mary McGregor

"SJ 225" Seminar: NB Genealogical Resources - Rose Staples, UE

One of five Saturday morning seminars "The Loyalist Genealogical Resources of the Public Archives of NB and the Loyalist Centre at UNB" will be presented by Rose Staples UE.

"Rose Staples UE started her genealogical journey over 25 years ago when she began looking into her own family tree. She is a wife and mother of four adult children.

For the past 10+ years, Rose has been a frequent researcher at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB) and the Harriett Irving Library (HIL); both of which are located on the Fredericton Campus of the University of New Brunswick. She has completed her Intermediate Certificate from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies for General Methodology and Canadian Records. For the last 5 years she has been focused on doing research for clients who have contacted her desiring to know more about their New Brunswick roots. Her most experienced area of research is with the records of New Brunswick pre-Loyalist and Loyalist ancestors.

This past winter she taught a 6 week workshop focused on researching NB ancestors at the PANB for the College of Extended Learning No Limits Program at UNB.

Rose is a member of the New Brunswick Genealogy Society and The United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada, New Brunswick Branch."

(Thursday July 10 - Sunday July 13): "Saint John 225" hosted by New Brunswick Branch in Saint John NB

...Stephen Bolton UE, Conference Chair {steve DOT bolton AT gnb DOT ca} how do I email him?

Shopkeeper, Glazier and Shoemaker, by Stephen Davidson

It is time once again to consider the stories of loyalists who were skilled in three different trades -- to see what was unique in their situations and what common threads bound them together.

After the American Revolution came to an end, Adam Young established a new home for his family at Grand River, 60 miles from Niagara. Before 1778, he had been a storekeeper along the Mohawk River in New York's Tryon County, the owner of 2,600 acres of land, a barn, a saw mill, a potash works and two houses -- not to mention a well stocked farm.

Young and his wife had four sons; their trade with people of the Iroquois nations was profitable. It seemed a good life. And then came the day when the shopkeeper had to take a stand either for the king or for the patriots. His profession of loyalty put him in a rebel prison for eleven months.

Over the course of the war Young saw the insides of a series of prisons, once being sent as far east as the Norwich jail in Connecticut. Upon his release, he returned to the Mohawk Valley where he used the provisions in his store to supply 74 loyalists for their escape to Canada. This did not go over well with Young's patriot neighbours. They burned his home and buildings, taking all of his possessions. The shopkeeper was later quoted as saying that he "came away with scarce sufficient clothes to cover him".

While one of the Young boys stayed to work in the Indian Department, the storekeeper and three of his sons went off to join other loyalists who served in Colonel Butler's Rangers. Sometime during his seven years of wartime service, Young saw one of his sons die in combat. His eventual departure for Canada and resettlement along the Grand River would do little to relieve the sadness of a lost child.

Although he was from eastern New York, settled in New Brunswick, and was a shoemaker by trade, John Crawford would still have been able to find a lot of common ground with Adam Young. During the course of the revolution, the native of Poundridge, Long Island had been persecuted, beaten and abused. When Crawford refused to serve in the local militia or side with the rebel cause, the shoemaker was forced to slowly sell off his livestock to pay the various fines exacted from him by his patriot neighbours.

Accusations of being a pilot for the British brought Crawford to a trial where his very life hung in the balance. Despite receiving an acquittal, the shoemaker narrowly escaped being lynched by an angry rebel mob. Fleeing his home, Crawford had to be content with making footwear in Delaney, New York until the war came to an end. Another loyalist later said that Crawford had "suffered as much as man could and live". The shoemaker and his large family finally settled at the head of the Bay of Fundy.

Before he settled in Halifax at the end of the war, Joseph Welsh had been a proud citizen of Cambridge, Massachusetts, serving the community as one of its painters and glaziers. After the troubles began, Welsh helped in the escape of four British officers who had been taken prisoner in Boston. He even provided them with a boat to aid in their getaway.

When his patriot neighbours later caught Welsh entertaining British officers in his home, he was put in prison for a whole winter. Labelled a tory, the glass fitter lost his business, suffering great financial loss.

Welsh and his family were eventually able to leave Cambridge thanks to a pass written by a very prominent patriot. John Hancock's claim to fame is the large signature he made on the Declaration of Independence, but the note granting Welsh's family safe passage to New York in 1780 (with instructions "not to return") was a scrap of paper so valuable to the glazier that it was still in his possession as late as 1786.

Unable to pursue his trade in New York City, Welsh put bread on the table for his family by working as a store keeper for the British navy. It must have been a hard adjustment for a man who was once noted as living in "a good part of the town" back in Cambridge. Finally, with the defeat of the British forces in 1783, Joseph Welsh and his family sailed for Nova Scotia, never to ply his trade in Massachusetts again.

"Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief" are the beginning words of the old button-counting chant. Although children of long ago recited the rhyme to determine their future careers, it might just as easily have been a list of the many occupations of loyalists. There are still more wartime experiences of loyalist tradesmen to be told in future issues of Loyalist Trails.

...Stephen Davidson

Fort Ticonderoga Museum Opens May 10 for 100th Season

The new president of the Fort Ticonderoga Board of Trustees will be banker and environmentalist Peter Paine, Jr. Paine, a Willsboro resident, is the eighth president of the fort, and succeeds Deborah Clarke Mars, for whom the new Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center has been named.

That project, creating a conference center with classroom space and an auditorium around the fort's original 1755 plan, will be dedicated in July during the French and Indian War 250th Anniversary Commemoration celebration.

In a statement, Paine said he was looking forward to having fun as the fort's new president. "I am happy to be here working with the fort's respected director, Nicholas Westbrook, his dedicated staff, my colleagues on the board and the Pell family. I look forward to maximizing the return on the transforming investment in the fort made by Forrest and Deborah Mars over the past several years. The eyes of the world will be focused on the astonishing events coming to the fort this summer." Conserved by the Pell family since 1820, Fort Ticonderoga reopens May 10 for its 100th season as a museum. A centennial celebration is planned for 2009 along with the quadricentennial of explorer Samuel de Champlain's arrival.

...William Glidden {historian70 AT verizon DOT net} how do I email him?

Understanding the American Revolution: Searching for Balance

The History Channel has broadcast “The Revolution” again here in the United States (though it may have been on the International History Channel). For the first time, the plight of the Loyalists was even mentioned. While the program cited the hazards (including death) of remaining loyal to the Crown during the conflict, it failed to specify the source of these attacks. It also failed to impress the dire consequences of having one’s property and assets seized or destroyed at that time.

There was no “system” in place for those who lost homes, businesses and possessions. They were left to the mercy of family and friends. The “Sons of Liberty” and various other “independence” groups would systematically terrorize those who remained loyal. It was not uncommon for the criminal element to join these partisan groups and gleefully engage in looting and pillaging under the guise and protection of political differences.

The program also failed to mention the extent of “Continental” or “Loyalist” regiments raised in the colonies to combat the rebel forces. While currently unavailable, www.regiments.org had an accounting of these regiments, and if memory serves, some ninety “Continental” regiments were formed and served under the Crown during the war. The fact that so many Loyalist regiments were even raised throws the entire notion of the American Revolution as a general uprising into question. Historians estimate that 1/3 of the populations in the colonies at the time were active revolutionaries, 1/3 was Loyalist, and 1/3 sat on the fence, waiting to see who won.

I do not “take sides” in the discussion of these various debates with regard to history, but I am interested in the accuracy of the facts, those stated and those not stated. If one is going to engage in any discussion of historical events, declare the facts and ALL the facts and let the proverbial chips fall where they may. It is history, supposedly a compilation of facts to be studied so we can better understand why things are as they may be now. To eliminate, alter, or truncate the facts does a disservice to posterity.

...Bruce Towers

Addendum: Capt. Peter Drummond, Forgotten Loyalist

The Capt. Peter Drummond information in the Loyalist Directory is accurate as I understand it. The seventh township mentioned is actually Edwardsburg, the sixth township. His land allotments as a Captain are all in Edwardsburg. In all, Drummond received 3000 acres including the majority of the land now occupied by Kemptville. These additional lands appear to be rewards for later service.

The Drummond family still lives on a 1784 land grant just east of Roebuck, Ontario. The family has been producing maple syrup there for something over 200 years. I have about 70 pages on Peter Drummond and the Hecks. The two families combined when, in the mid 1800's, the only two living Drummond males (from marriage 1) married two grand-daughters of Barbra and Paul Heck. U.E. Certificates, however, have been issued from the line of his second marriage only, all based on female children.

I know that Drummond Island in the St. Lawrence is named after this Drummond and am fairly certain that Drummond Island in Michigan is named after him as well and not General Gordon Drummond as is generally assumed. The Capt. George Drummond, killed in the Battle of the Windmill, was Peter Drummond's only surviving son. So a bit more of the Drummond story.

...Don Galna, UE

Heritage Lighthouse Bill a Step Closer to Becoming Law

Ottawa, ON March 17, 20008 The Heritage Canada Foundation is pleased to announce that Bill S-215, An Act to protect heritage lighthouses, passed second reading in the House of Commons on March 11th and was referred to the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. Bill S-215 could potentially protect hundreds of lighthouses on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, as well as on the Great Lakes and inland waterways.

Introduced as a private members bill in the Senate in October 2007 by Senator Pat Carney, the bill was sponsored by MP Larry Miller (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound) in the House of Commons. HCF has been actively working towards the success of a bill to protect Canada’s heritage lighthouses for a number of years. Over the last several years we have been working closely with Barry MacDonald of the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society to see this bill come to fruition.

Please contact your MP and urge the passage of this bill.

Halifax to Recognize Shelburne's Loyalist Landing

I got confirmation from Halifax Public Gardens this week that they will dedicate their main carpet bed this summer to our Loyalist Landing celebrations. The flower design will depict the Loyalist flag with the inscription below it - Loyalist Landing Shelburne, 1783-2008. If you're in Halifax this summer, check it out!

Information Available: Families of Roger Barton and Jacob Langs

While doing some research I gathered some details - photocopies of pages in books - which I placed in accopress binders. I have one copy of each of the following which will be available on a first come, first served basis.

Roger Barton, Loyalist 1730-1823. Ens. New York Volunteers. Dutchess Co. NY and Grand Lake New Brunswick m Elizabeth Miller b Savannah, Georgia. His ancestors and descendants. Excerpts from book by Margaret Alberta Barton McLean. 37 Pages $4.00 plus mailing.

Jacob Langs and Elizabeth Fowler and their descendants incl: Westbrook, Vanderlip, Lampkin and etc..These notes are excerpts from a book collected and arranged by Dr. W.O.A. Langs with introduction to "The Langs Family of Pennsylvania" by John Pierce Langs. 18 pages $2.00 plus mailing.

...Doris Ann Lemon UE {hlemon AT jubilation DOT uwaterloo DOT ca} how do I email her?

For Sale: VanKoughnet Family History

I have for sale a copy of "The Von Gochnats" by Lady Jane Van Koughnet, privately printed 1910.

It is in very good condition and contains 11 prints. It came from the Governer General's library as evidenced by a sticker inside the front cover.

It relates how Michael Van Koughnet, UEL came in haste from America in 1782 to commence a new life in Cornwall.

I would like to get $59 for this unique book. Shipping is $5.00 by Canada Post lettermail.

...Tom Clifford, Nepean, Ottawa {acclaim AT sympatico DOT ca} how do I email him?

Last Post: Wilbert Arthur Walt, UE

Passed away on March 19 2008 in Trenton ON. He is survived by his wife Maxine (Lusk) U.E. of 63 years, four sons David, Bob, Gary and Carl Walt and a daughter Angela Johnson. He was born in Murray Township north of Trenton and spent all of his life in the area. Interment will be in Stockdale Cemetery. He was a member of Bay of Quinte Branch and had a certificate for Henry Redner Sr. U.E. He was also a descendant of the following Loyalists: Isaac Alyea, John Babcock Sr., Wm Bell Sr., David and Andrew Embury, Conrad Gunter, James Johnson, Christian and John Keller, William Ketcheson, Isaac Larroway, George Henry Lloyd, Capt. Abraham Maybee, Philip Roblin, Pte. Henry Simmons and Pte. Henry Young. Daughter Angela is a former Toronto Branch President, former Dominion Secretary and former Dominion Genealogist, and son-in-law Peter Johnson is current Dominion President.

Last Post: Grant Campbell, UE

James Alistair Grant Campbell Q.C., B.A., LL.B., U.E. (Veteran WWII, Former MP for Stormont 1958-1962) of Williamstown; age 85 years, died Wednesday, March 12, 2008. Husband of the late Edith Priscilla Campbell (nee Wanklyn). Father of Sara Campbell (Robert Lowenstein) of London, England, Katie Campbell (Michael Davenport) of London, England and Bonnie Campbell (David Birn) of Cold Spring, New York. Brother of Lorna Pearce (William) of Kingston, Ontario, the late Beulah McIntyre (late Earl), and the late Athol Campbell (late Jean Vance). Son of the late James Ellis Burke Campbell and the late Florence Catherine Campbell (nee Grant).

...Lynne Cook UE, St. Lawrence Branch

Name of ship which took RNC Regiment to Nova Scotia

I have many Proven Loyalist ancestors on my mother’s side of the family, but have this urge to prove the line on my father’s side because this one carries our family name. This ancestor has never been proven a Loyalist even though there are many records to show that he fought for the Crown and fought with the Royal North Carolina Regiment for four years. This was the last regiment of loyalists to leave the United States and they arrived in Nova Scotia November 1783. He was granted land which he never took up for unknown reasons, and continued to petition for many years for land in what became Colchester County.

William HAYMAN / HAYMON / HAYMEN / HAYDMAN / HAYNDMAN / HAYMOND / HYNDMAN was born in Argylshire, Scotland about 1757. I do not know when he arrived in America but he may have been the sailor William Hyndman on the HMS Consent 1777 to America, listed in the Register of Testaments of Argyle, Scotland 1674-1800, his parents may have brought him over when he was a boy, or he may have been a soldier sent by the British to fight for the Crown, though he did not fight with the British troops.

William HAYMAN spoke Gaelic and little or no English. He was illiterate, neither reading or writing, and so were his children. His family continued to speak some Gaelic until my great grandmother’s time in the early 20th century. Perhaps his lack of understanding is one reason he did not take up his grant or the unfavourable situation of the land. He moved on to settle at Waugh’s River near Tatamagouche where he continued to plead for a grant of land.

In 1791 John (Jean) Muliard (Milliard); William Hayman (his future son-in-law) and his family; Henry Hulton with one son; David Longal (Langille) with three sons, petitioned for a grant of land at Remsheg or River Philip, as they were paying rent. (There is a Memorial in the Land Papers which I have not uncovered yet).. They did not succeed and are not listed on the file of Remsheg settlers. DeBarres, the Lord Proprietor of thousands of acres of land refused to grant titles even though it was his responsibility to do so, and he continued for many years to collect rents.

The book “Loyalists and Land Settlement in Nova Scotia” was complied by Marion Gilroy under the direction of D. C. Harvey, Archivist and published by the authority and oversight of the Board of Trustees of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia, and checked with the land papers in the Department of Lands and Forests of NS Archives. This book is divided into counties with names of settlers for each. In the county of Sydney, page 128, William HAYMAN is listed in 1784, at Country Harbour, E., granted 100 acres and he is from R.N.C. Reg’t. (Royal North Carolina Regiment).

In 1818 William HAYMAN/HAYDMAN continued to petition for a grant of land and this petition names all of his children and their ages except the one unborn at that time. I have a copy of this petition.

In 1828, the year of William’s death, the census records of Colchester County list his Widow with one son under 6 yrs, one daughter under 6 yrs, one son over 6 and under 14 years, and 3 females over 6 and under 14 yrs. Also listed are three adult sons and their families.

A little history about the Royal North Carolina Regiment would not be amiss here. According to the Loyalist Institute, there were several corps and regiments in North Carolina, referred to as Provincials, such as the Royal Highland Emigrants, the Black Pioneers. and the North Carolina Volunteers. There were no new regiments formed in North Carolina until after the disaster of the battle at Moore’s Creek Bridge, when many of the officers were imprisoned until 1781.

However, on 27th November, 1777 William Tryon, at the request of Cornwallis, wrote a letter to Sir Henry Clinton which was delivered by John Hamilton , stating that “the bearer Mr. (John) Hamilton late from Virginia, has proposals to make to your Excellency for raising a Body of Men for His Majesty’s Service”.. In January 1779 Capt. Hamilton, a respected soldier under Lt. Col. Archibald Campbell arrived in Georgia after the British captured Savannah. John Hamilton was made a Major and commander of two groups of North Carolina refugees. In February of 1779 they were joined by the Royal Volunteers of North Carolina and with the two North Carolina refugee groups were organized into the Royal North Carolina Regiment.

The Royal North Carolina Regiment fought continuously with many diverse Companies at the Siege of Savannah (Sept 3 to Oct 18, 1779, the Siege of Charleston (Mar 29 to May 12, 1780), the Battle of Camden ( June 1780), Hanging Rock, SC (Aug 1 to Aug 6, 1780), (they returned to Camden Aug 16th with wounded), and many other battles. . On Aug 19 1780 Cornwallis appointed new officers in the Royal North Carolina Regiment.. The Regiment was at Haw River (Feb to Apr 25, 1781), then in Hillsboro with Cornwallis. Maj. John Hamilton requested that his R.N.C. Regiment be brought back together in May of 1781. and after a long march the Regiment was at Wilmington.on August 1, 1781. They continued fighting in the Southern Campaign until the end of the war.

On Oct 1, 1782 the regiment sailed from Charleston to St. Augustine. When the war drew to a close, loyalists lost all claim to their land and possessions and started to leave the country. A letter from John Hamilton requested that the men of his regiment be allowed to travel to British properties and be granted land. He also wrote to request that he be allowed to go to a British province or England. In Oct 1783 the Royal North Carolina Regiment set sail from St. Augustine, Florida to Country Harbor, Nova Scotia in Canada, and in November the regiment was disbanded. This information is from Loyalist Institute Timeline.

William HAYMAN was discharged from the army at Country Harbour, NS from the Royal North Carolina Regiment. I have a copy of the Discharge Papers dated Nov 3, 1783. The Discharge papers state that he served for 4 years as a Loyalist soldier in the R.N.C. Regiment.

Copies of the Chipman Papers are now available and the Muster Rolls of Capt. William Hamilton’s Company in 1780 and 1781 show one of the privates as William HAYMAN. It should be noted here that a William Hayman is listed in DeLancy’s 1st Battalion in 1777.

To this day there are descendants on land finally acquired by the children of William Hayman, and there still are descendants all across the province of Nova Scotia.

Now the question! What was the name of the ship that took William and the Royal North Carolina Regiment to Nova Scotia, and is there a list of passengers? I really would like to Prove William Hayman as a United Empire Loyalist and add my children and grandchildren to this group. Can anyone help to complete this information that would be acceptable to the Association.

...Claire Hayman Lincoln, UE {lincallofus AT msn DOT com} how do I email her?

James Rogers, and Margaret and Mary McGregor

In the March 02 2008 Loyalists Trails it mentions that Colonel James Rogers wife was Margaret McGregor. My ancestor George Cosby, who served under Major James Rogers, married Mary McGregor.

Is the Major and the Colonel James Rogers the same person?

Are Margaret and Mary McGregor sisters?

If anyone has any knowledge concerning these two questions I would appreciate it.

...Wilfred L. Cosby, UE {wilco AT vianet DOT ca} how do I email him?