Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2009 Archive

In this issue:
- What's on Your (Loyalist) I-Pod?-- © Stephen Davidson
- Five Brothers; Two Loyalists - The Green Family, By David B. Clark, UE
- Loyalist Centennial Ribbon Picture
- Items at Auction
- Last Post
      + Malcolm Ernest Harris, BA, BCL, UE
      + Yvonne Fleming (née Hough)
- Queries
      + The Myrtle and Ann Transport

What's on Your (Loyalist) I-Pod?-- © Stephen Davidson

When the digital music player, the I-Pod, was first introduced, it became a "must-have" item for celebrities as well as teenagers. It was soon a "given" that if you were among the rich and powerful, you had your own portable music device. Members of the press --trying to establish a common touch with politicians-- began to end their interviews by asking them what songs they were enjoying on their I-Pods. With a little historical imagination, I'd like to pose the same question to the loyalist refugees of the American Revolution. What music did they enjoy?

The music of the 18th century was a blend of hymns, folk songs, and classical music. Depending on where in the Thirteen Colonies a loyalist lived, his particular denomination, and her status in society, the musical diet of a loyal American could vary quite a bit.

If a loyalist lived in one of the larger American cities along the Atlantic seaboard and her religion did not frown upon worldly music, she could have attended concerts featuring the music of George Handel (who died in 1759), Franz Haydn (who was in his 40s during the American Revolution), Franz Schubert, or Gioacchino Rossini. Wolfgang Mozart was in his 20s during the revolution and would not become famous as an adult composer until after the loyalists had settled in Canada, the Maritimes, and England. If, indeed, any loyalists attended concerts of "golden oldies" from the Baroque period, then perhaps they enjoyed Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D, a piece that was composed almost a century earlier in 1680.

Pachelbel's son, Charles, immigrated from Germany to America in 1733 and eventually settled in Charleston, South Carolina In addition to serving as the organist at St. Philip's Church, Charles also organized the first instrumental and vocal music concert in the city's history. He died in 1750, a generation before the revolution would visit so much death and destruction upon his adopted home.

Southern colonists took their music seriously. John Wesley, the Methodist evangelist was arraigned in 1737 for introducing unauthorized hymns into the colony's Anglican worship service. The music of the Methodist Church was very popular by the beginning of revolutionary period, and its hymns would no doubt have been included among those that loyalists could hum. Christians on both sides of the American Revolution sang the hymns of Isaac Watts (Joy to the World, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Alas and Did My Saviour Bleed, etc.) and Charles Wesley (Hark the Herald Angels Sing, O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing, Come, thou Long-Expected Jesus, etc.).

John Wesley's choice of hymns was also influenced by the music of Moravian Church, a German denomination. His translation and publication of German hymns introduced these songs to English Christians on both sides of the Atlantic. Moravians also enjoyed secular German music and played it in their new home. Johann Friedrich Peter who immigrated to Pennsylvania before the Revolution, brought with him sheet music for pieces by Haydn, Bach, and Stamitz.

Patriotic music was also popular during the revolution. James Thomson's Rule Britannica had been put to music back in 1740. God Save the King was first sung in its present form in 1745 as part of a play titled The Alchemist. The tune to this song (which was not yet the national anthem of the United Kingdom) was so popular that it had many other lyrics set to it, such as this Masonic hymn with decidedly loyalist words:

'Tis by the will of heaven
Kings to command are given,
George we proclaim.
Chant in full song his praise,
May such deeds crown his days,
As will through ages raise,
A deathless name.

Another political song that loyalists enjoyed was not always so lofty in melody or sentiment. Yankee Doodle made its first appearance in The Disappointment, a 1767 opera libretto. So catchy was its tune that Yankee Doodle would have 190 verses written for it over the next two hundred years.

When the combined might of the French navy and the Continental Army failed to capture Rhode Island in 1778, someone with loyalist principles penned these verses to Yankee Doodle:

He took his wallet on his back, ~ His rifle on his shoulder, ~ And vow'd Rhode Island to attack, ~ Before he was much older.
In dread array their tatter'd crew, ~ Advanc'd with colors spread, sir, ~ Their fifes played Yankee doodle doo, ~ King Hancock at their head, sir.
He left him what was better yet, ~ At least it was more use, sir, ~ He left him for a quick retreat, ~ A very good excuse, sir.

Loyalist music was not limited to hymns, nationalistic anthems, or chamber music. Ballroom music was considered far too worldly in some parts of the Thirteen Colonies, but in the writings of two men from Stamford, Connecticut, we discover that social dances were highly anticipated musical events in loyalist settlements. Rev. Dibblee speaks enthusiastically of winter balls in the town of Woodstock, New Brunswick as early as 1803. Sheriff Walter Bates staged a ball for his friends in Kingston in 1815. Both men had been in their twenties when the Revolution split their New England town into two warring factions, but the joy of ballroom dancing and its music travelled to New Brunswick with them and their fellow refugees .

Loyalists from the southern colonies would have enjoyed folk songs such as Barbara Allen and Black is the Colour of my Love's Hair. They would also have been familiar with a host of ditties that could easily be learned by ear and played on the violin, flute, or pipes. These, too, would be part of the playlist on a hypothetical loyalist I-Pod.

Music in the eighteenth century was, of course, not something that was recorded. It was produced by a live performer on whatever instruments were at hand. In the next issue of Loyalist Trails, we will consider how loyalists made their music and what musical traditions they brought with them to modern day Canada.

To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com

Five Brothers; Two Loyalists - The Green Family, By David B. Clark, UE

At age fourteen I began the search for my family’s lost Loyalist connection. The family oral history, repeated by my maternal grandfather, said we were related to a Loyalist but over the centuries the name of that individual had been blurred and lost. I took up the challenge sometime after his death, and for thirty-six years in an on-again, off-again manner, worked at unravelling the mystery. Eventually, in 2000, I was able to prove our connection to Adam Green, UE, and I received my certificate from the UELAC.

A few weeks ago, I looked over the Dominion UEL website and there was a Loyalist Directory listing my ancestor and the fact that there were many proven descendants who already had their certificates when I received mine, and some who had received their’s since. Who knew?

Since the Directory had no details about Adam Green, I filled in as much as I could pull out of my research and wondered who all of these other certified descendants were. A simple count of the issued certificate dates showed that there were eighteen proven descendants (two were issued on the same day in 2000 – my brother and myself). I wondered what genealogical and historical ‘pots of gold’ each had hidden within their research files. So I decided to write this very abridged story of the Green family for Loyalist Trails in the hope that one or more of those descendants might have some more historical details about Adam Green.

For those who may be researching a connection to the Green family (or those who already have their certificates), this is the story of one of the five Green brothers, who all joined the Royal Standard during the rebellion (I restrain myself from using the term mutiny) of 1776. For this story, I have relied heavily on the books “A Green Genealogy” in four volumes, and “Building Our Pedigree”, all by Ida F. Crozier, with a smattering of “The Annals of the Forty”, Volume 5, thrown in.

Samuel Green, the Deputy Colonial Surveyor of New Jersey, and Hannah Wright lived in Johnsonburg (then known as Log Gaol). They had five sons between 1739 and 1746 and two daughters from 1747 to 1749. Samuel, in fact, was recorded as voting to build a log gaol (jail) near the Dark Moon tavern, owned by Jonathan Pettit (a vertically integrated entrepreneur who was judge, tavern keeper, stage stop-over administrator, and “motel” owner). Fatefully, that same gaol would house at least four of Samuel’s sons during the rebellion.

Adam Green, the eldest of the five sons, in fact seems to have worked with Colonel (Judge) Nathaniel Pettit and appears somehow to have been attached to the 5th Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers. The nominal rolls, however, do not mention his name but there is some hint that he may have been recruiting, possibly in the Civil Branch of the Army or possibly just at the behest of Colonel Pettit.

In his petition for entry onto the UEL roll in 1808, a statutory declaration states that Adam spent time in Log Gaol prison with Judge Pettit (in 1777). Further, another declaration indicates that he “gave a brown Mare, Saddle and bridle ... (to) General Prescott (in 1779) ... for the purpose of making his escape to the British.” And lastly, “that he (had) been a great sufferer during the last war.”

Here is where the deepest mystery begins. Adam had inherited 300 acres of prime land in New Jersey after his father’s demise. Land records in Ontario show that Adam bought 100 acres of land in 1787. However, he is recorded in 1793 in Sussex County, New Jersey land records, as selling 238 acres of his inherited land to his son-in-law, Levi Howell. How is this possible?

Two theories come into existence due to this anomaly. The first is that he arrived at Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) in 1787 with a group of 400 other Loyalists including many of the Pettits and his brother John Green. He then bought land, and was driven back to New Jersey during the “Great Hunger” of 1788-89 to returned again in 1793. His 1794 petition for 300 acres of land in addition to the previous purchase, was granted at Stoney Creek. The second theory is that the Ontario land records are wrong, and Adam and family arrived at Newark for the first time in 1793, bought 100 acres of land and petitioned for the remaining 300.

To close this story, a description of Adam’s house (“consisting of a room, a closet and a loft”) and his children, exists in the Diary of Mrs. John Graves Simcoe. It states nothing of his family’s earlier arrival in Ontario, but tells us that Adam functioned as a local herbalist healer, as well as a farmer, in the Stoney Creek area and that Mrs. Simcoe, during her visit, was served a wonderful dinner of “cakes baked on the coals, eggs, a boiled black squirrel, (and) tea and coffee made of peas,” sweetened with black walnut sugar!

Adam’s Loyalist brother John, is also recorded in Mrs. Simcoe’s book as a farmer and operator of a grist mill. Adam’s other three brothers, who also all spent time in Log Gaol during the rebellion, although loyal to the Crown, remained in the United States. Parenthetically, Adam Green’s youngest son, William (Billy the Scout) Green became a well known Canadian figure in the War of 1812.

To the certified descendants of the Green family or others interested in this family’s history, if you have anything to add to or correct in the above very shortened history, please feel free to contact me.

...Dave Clark {landmenbc1 AT shaw DOT ca} how do I email him?

Loyalist Centennial Ribbon Picture

In last week's Loyalist Trails, for the first half of the recipients, the link to the larger picture of the ribbon was incorrect. Click here to see it.

Items at Auction

Our catalog for the March 21, 2009 auction of fine arms and armor is now online.

This year we are offering a range of fine antique arms and armor to suit all tastes and ranges, totaling over 275 lots. These include a fine, gilded American Revolutionary War-era officer's Smallsword, a very rare matched presentation sword and dagger set with emeralds, and another set with turquoises and corals, ancestral arms from the collection of the Maharaj of Pratapgarh, a superbly-embellished Imperial Russian musket made at Tula in 1743, and a fine selection of helmets, armor and shields from the prestigious Higgins Armory Museum.

To browse the online catalog, order a copy of our full-color, 112 page catalog, or to register to bid, please visit Auctions Imperial.

Malcolm Ernest Harris, BA, BCL, UE

Passed away at the Kingston General Hospital on Tuesday February 3, 2009. Husband of Bernita Damery. Father of Eve (David) Guelph, Amy (Peter) Toronto, Holly (Mike) Smiths Falls and Joe (Jen) Ottawa. Brother of Melvin (Sharon). Also survived by his Aunt Muriel Dobson. As expressions of sympathy donations made to the Charity of your Choice would be appreciated by the family. Online condolences at tompkinsfuneralhome.ca. (From the Gananoque Reporter.)

...Lynne Cook UE, St. Lawrence Branch

Yvonne Fleming (née Hough)

Mrs. Yvonne Fleming passed away peacefully on Friday February 20, 2009 at the Woodland Villa, Long Sault at the age of 99 years. She was formerly of Long Sault. Wife of the late Stanley Fleming. Mother of the late Mary Elaine Mathur (Prad) of Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Daughter of the late William and Beatrice (Alguire) Hough. Sister of Clara MacMillan (late Ford), Avonmore; Gladys Curran (late Jim) of Toronto; and Ramona Hill (late Reg) of Arnprior. Predeceased by her brother John Hough of Lunenburg; Lillian Adams (late Bob) of Seattle, Washington; and Shirley MacNaughton of Calgary, Alberta.

Yvonne made friends with many over the years and continued to maintain contact through correspondence or telephone calls. She was a devoted teacher and treasured the gift of learning. An avid reader, she wrote a book of her memoirs, of which she was quite proud. Her talents as a seamstress were always appreciated. Yvonne also had a passion for geneology as well as being a long time member of The United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada.

A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date. Online messages of condolence may be made in the obituary section of wilsonfuneralhome.ca

...Lynne Cook UE, St. Lawrence Branch

The Myrtle and Ann Transport

In doing some research on early land records of the Midland District, I have run into a term which I don't recognize and on which I can find no information. Perhaps you or some of your readers might know? The reference is to the "Myrtle and Ann Transport". Thomas Giles & John Roggie are both mentioned as arriving in Upper Canada on the 'Myrtle and Ann Transport' (also appears as 'Myrtle or Ann Transport'), the latter having arrived in 1792.

Can anyone help with information?

...Linda Corupe, UE {corupegl AT sympatico DOT ca} how do I email her?