Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2009 Archive

In this issue:
- Billy's Boat -- © Stephen Davidson
- Follow-up to Loyalist Baggage Check: Mary Raymond and Sarah Frost
- Follow-up to Baggage Check: Daniel Fraser, Philip Dorland, Sgt.Joshua Booth, Philip Dorland, Sgt. Joshua Booth, Peter Ruttan
- More About Samuel Clegg
- UELAC Major Grant #2: Friends of the Loyalists collection at Brock University
- Welcome to the New Archives of Ontario; Your Help is Needed
- Col. John Butler (Niagara) Branch Noted in Hansard
- Edmonton Branch Annual Founders' Dinner May 20
- Talking The Loyalist Message; UELAC.org is a Teachers Resource!
- Buy Back Nova Scotia - Loyalist Connections
- Communal Bond and Stuart McLean
- Loyalist Leaders on the Mend
- Queries
      + Response re Meaning of BSSh on Mohawk Valley Map
      + Proof Needed in Line from Peter Eamer UE

Billy's Boat -- © Stephen Davidson

Discovering what the loyalists brought with them when they fled the United States by ship is a daunting task. No cargo manifests have survived from the hundreds of evacuation ships that took the refugees to Quebec, Nova Scotia, or Great Britain, so historians are forced to depend upon a handful of diaries and letters to provide clues as to what the loyalists carried with them. Thanks to his wife's diary, we know what William Frost brought to modern day New Brunswick.

On June 8, 1783, the Two Sisters anchored in the harbour of Parrtown, a garrison settlement that was to become Saint John, New Brunswick. The pregnant Sarah Frost was glad that, after a two-week journey, the ship was no longer pitching to and fro. Anxious to see his new home, William Frost did not have to wait for the ship's longboats to take him ashore. Sarah's diary for the day noted that "Mr. Frost has now gone on shore in his whaleboat to see how the place looks, and he says he will soon come back and take me on shore. I long to set my feet once more on land. He soon came on board again and brought a fine salmon."

What was William Frost doing with a whaleboat on an evacuation ship? As the name indicates, whaleboats were originally created for whaling off of New England. However, during the war years, they were also built for military purposes. A whaleboat could carry a dozen men, was light enough to be carried on its crew's shoulders, and was double-ended for two-way rowing. Six or eight oars were standard . During the revolution, both loyalists and patriots installed a single sail for greater speed and mounted a small, swivel cannon in the bow.

The whaleboat was ideal for the type of guerilla warfare that flourished in the waters of Long Island Sound. Long Island, like New York City, was under British control throughout the revolution. Its many garrisons and refugee camps were favourite targets for patriot raiders in Connecticut who leaped into their whaleboats, rowed across the Sound in two hours, attacked civilians and soldiers, and then returned -- all within 24 hours.

Loyal Americans also used whaleboats. Under the cover of night, loyalists and British soldiers sailed out of garrisons on Long Island to make attacks on the seaports of Connecticut. Since they were once residents of these communities, the loyalist whaleboat raiders knew exactly where to strike to do the most damage to their rebel neighbours.

In 1781, William Frost led one such whaleboat raid on Darien, a town just east of Stamford, Connecticut. Four years earlier, rebels had banished Frost for his loyalty, and told him that he would be executed should he ever return to his hometown. He made his escape from Stamford by hiding in a wagon load of hay that was going to be sent across the Sound. After he was joined by his family, Frost spent the rest of the war at Lloyd's Neck near Fort Franklin, the largest British garrison on Long Island.

Frost's raiding party rowed across the Sound on a Saturday night and then hid in a swamp outside of Darien. As patriot worshippers joined Rev. Mather in the singing of the first hymn, the loyalists surrounded the church, trapping everyone inside. (Frost and his men clearly had no qualms about attacking fellow Christians as they worshiped.) The loyalist raiders robbed the congregation of their valuables and horses, and then made 48 of the most ardent patriots their prisoners. (The whaleboats had a lot to carry!)

One loyalist, Joseph Smith, brought his bayonet into the sanctuary. When he found Sally Dibblee trying to hide a young boy beneath her pew, Smith attacked the woman with his musket's blade. Fortunately for Dibblee, the assault was not fatal. For years after the revolution, she would show anyone who was interested a handkerchief filled with holes made by a loyalist's bayonet.

When Frost and his raiders returned to Fort Franklin with four dozen rebel prisoners, the loyalist refugees who greeted them on the shore delighted in their former neighbours' discomfort, taking great joy in the fact that those who had once persecuted them now would have a taste of their own medicine.

Two years after William Frost led the attack on Darien, he and his family boarded an evacuation ship and prepared to sail to the mouth of the St. John River. Decisions had to be made about what the family would take with them. Somehow, 32 year-old William convinced both Sarah and the captain of the Two Sisters to let him bring along his whaleboat. Perhaps he felt his craft would be useful on the river where the loyalists planned to settle. Perhaps the whaleboat symbolized a time for Frost when the fortunes of the American rebels were at their lowest ebb.

Hannah, their third child, was born to Sarah a month after their arrival, an event which may have delayed William's immediate establishment of a homestead. However, by the time the snow began to fall in November, the Frosts had made the decision to settle with other refugees along the shores of the Kennebecasis River. In time, so many Connecticut loyalists built homes along this large tributary of the St. John River that its banks became known as the Yankee Shore. No doubt William Frost and his whaleboat were a familiar sight for many years as his Kennebecasis River neighbours watched him sail to the city of Saint John or row across the river to attend church in Kingston.

Today, the curious can visit the tombstones of William and Sarah Frost and their daughter Hannah in the graveyard of Trinity Anglican Church. Like the many other loyalist gravestones, the granite slab that commemorates the Frost family reveals nothing of the tempestuous lives of those buried in its shadow -- or of a refugee who insisted on bringing a whaleboat to his new home.

To secure permission to reprint this article, contact the author at {stephendavids AT gmail DOT com} how do I email him?

Follow-up to Loyalist Baggage Check: Mary Raymond and Sarah Frost

I was very interested to read Stephen Davidson's account of Mary Raymond and Sarah Frost in this week's 'Loyalist Trails.' Mary and Sarah were both my fifth great-grandmothers. My other Loyalist ancestors include Fyler Dibblee and his wife Polly Jarvis; Richard Carman and his wife Sarah Horsfield; John Davis Beardsley and his wife Sarah (Sally) Munday Dibblee; James Moore and his wife Elizabeth Seaman (nee Hallett); William H. Secord, Sr. and his wife Ruth Hunt; and Capt. Samuel Hallett and his wife Elizabeth Wilson (nee Lamb – she was the sister of Washington's chief of artillery, Gen. John Lamb). Quite collection of Loyalists, but, thus far, I have only 'officially' proven my UE status through Silas Raymond (Mary's son)! Incidentally, I am in possession of an old black walnut mirror with charring on one edge; family legend has it that it was retrieved by Silas as an afterthought after he set his house in Norwalk on fire so the rebels wouldn't have it (mirrors were hard to come by, I presume).

Below is an excerpt from one of about seven known handwritten family histories by my great-grandfather, The Ven. William Odber Raymond, Archdeacon of St. John. N.B., and a well-known chronicler of the Loyalists (I have three of them; my cousin Hugh Barrett in England has another; Archives Canada has one and I believe UNB has the other – Wallace Hale has annotated it).

"Silas, the youngest of Samuel Raymond's family, will be more fully mentioned in the pages that follow, but something more may be said concerning the Widow Mary Raymond. She certainly displayed rare spirit and courage during the Revolution. She was a woman of vigorous constitution. Grandfather Charles Raymond told me that he remembered, when a child in Kingston, walking with his old grandmother from their house in the village to Pickett's Lake, a distance of a mile and a half, over a very hilly road. They returned home the same day in the evening. He was then five years of age and she was ninety-six. The good old lady died not very long afterwards, and her ashes rest beside those of her son Silas in the old Kingston Churchyard. Her headstone records – 'Mary, widow of Samuel Raymond of Norwalk, Connecticut, died December, 1793, aged 96 years'…

"...A rebel sentinel refused to allow them to carry anything from their dwelling, and tradition says that Silas on finding that the enemy would not permit the removal of their effects, piled some combustibles against a wooden partition of the house and before abandoning it, applied the torch saying, as he locked the door, "that the miserable rebels should not enjoy his property". The house was undoubtedly consumed in the general conflagration and Silas lost all his papers and effects.[1] He was obliged to return surreptitiously to the sloop, and he advised the family, who were to follow him, to avoid the highway and to go through the fields so as not to be molested. Early on the fatal day – the 11th July, 1779 – the family set forth. The old grandmother Mary, then 82 years of age, carried the little boy Jesse in her arms. She declined her son's advice to go through the fields and avoid the road, but proudly raised her head saying, "It is the King's Highway, and I will walk in it!" She tied two linen sheets – homemade and valuable – beneath her skirts and carried the chief family valuables tied up in a pillow-case, and put the silver spoons in her pocket. On the way she was stopped by American officers, who rudely accosted her and, it is said, picked off her bonnet with their swords, cut the ribbons and trampled upon it."

[1] One item that may have survived is an old walnut mirror – now in the possession of Silas' fourth great-grandson George McNeillie in Toronto. It is charred along one side and family lore has it that it was rescued from the fire – perhaps because mirrors were a rare and precious commodity in the colonies.

I also just discovered – quite by accident – that Sarah Frost was descended from four passengers on the Mayflower, so her family had been in America for over 160 years before the Revolution made her a refugee. I have several of my great-grandfather W.O. Raymond's handwritten family journals, which I am transcribing, but it is a laborious process.

...George McNeillie, UE

Follow-up to Baggage Check: Daniel Fraser, Philip Dorland, Sgt.Joshua Booth, Philip Dorland, Sgt. Joshua Booth, Peter Ruttan

Tangent on the topic of Baggage of the refugees, the 1783, UE folk to Nova Scotia had a bit more space than the folk who took smaller craft, such as those coming up the 33 rapid sites of the River St.Lawrence. Three items to mention from my own ancestry plus an extra for good measure.

Daniel Fraser (artificier) who came to Ernestown twp. on passing through Newtown Munro territory, after an over night stay, took his family Bible and six siver spoons. We don't know what exactly happened to the silver spoons, perhaps they were used as currency after discharge. Daniel Fraser died at the home of his youngest son by his second wife, at Sophiasburg, but back on the frontier of Thulow, the estate at death lists the Bible and six pewter spoons. (Source: "Skulking for the King" by a relative, June Fraser Usherwood)

Philip Dorland from Beekman NY and wife, Elizabeth Bedell from Long Island, supposedly brought a couple of roots of red and white peonies. A relative of the Hubbs-Dorland twig had a healthy row of peonies in her back yard in Picton, although they have been lost recently as the new owner does not tend them. The Hubbs-Noxon-DORLAND relative told me the peony history.

Sgt. Joshua Booth brought his knowledge on how to build and work a mill by the creek, and used the story of Alexander the great crossing the Dardenelles, using boats tied together. Booth was the first Ernestown citizen to build a private bridge, the Floating Bridge, on what is presently Hwy 33. by Parrott's Bay.

Of no known blood relation, but part of Adolphustown twp. Peter Ruttan ( CBC does not know pronunciation for Ruu-TTAN). brought his mantle clock. As there were few timepeices in the town, Peter daily banged an iron gong at 12 noon to note the noon time to the community, until an itinerant peddler had sold a few clocks in the area.

By the time a 2 year period of feeling unsettled and in limbo had passed, many folk needed new sets of clothes, one for winter and another for summer.

...Philip Smart UE, Kingston Branch

More About Samuel Clegg

A Loyalist Trails article entitled Executed Loyalists I: Two Quakers noted the hanging of the 5 Loyalists in Ninety Six in 1779. One of them, Sam Campbell CLEGG, is one of my bloodline ancestors. I have known of him for many years, and his family ... and of course the unjust demise he suffered. Much of my information comes from the book "Georgians in The Revolution", in which the Battle of Kettle Creek is detailed.

Coincidentally, a few years ago, I located a grave in my paternal family's cemetery (ZIMMERMAN - TIMMERMAN), in Edgefield county, SC, that was not identified, and only had an ancient fieldstone 'headstone'. Due to other graves around it, I felt I knew who it was ... and in studying the fieldstone noticed evidence that there had been some writing scratched in it ... but that most of the scratches had disappeared ... likely via a chip breaking off. Down on hands and knees, I scrounged around in the rotting leaves and twigs of the past 160 years, and I luckily found the missing 'chip' ... and when matched to the fieldstone, a perfect match ... BP.

Barbara FLICK, the wife of Sam Campbell CLEGG, had remarried (2 times) after his hanging. The 3rd and last marriage was to a fellow with the last name of Polattie-Polatty ..... thus the initials "BP". This was further supported by an adjacent tombstone of Elizabeth TIMMERMAN, who married another bloodline ancestor, Jacob TIMMERMAN; meaning of course that Elizabeth is bloodline.

On the other side of Barbara was another unmarked grave indentation ... with unscratched fieldstones. We surmise this to be the husband of Elizabeth CLEGG, Jacob TIMMERMAN ... especially since it was grave #1 in the order; and since he was the heir to the original land grant from King George III in 1764. So we have thee graves of Sam Clegg's wife and daughter.

From "GREENWOOD COUNTY SKETCHES-OLD ROADS AND EARLY FAMILIES", written by Margaret Watson, 1982, by Attic Press, Inc., Greenwood, page 190 ...

"Cleggs in Greenwood County are descended from Johathan Clegg, according to the late Francis Pickens Johnson whose grandmother was Nancy Clegg, sister of Jonathan. Name of the Clegg forebear is not known. [since discovered] The wife was Maryk Flick (or Flipp) who came to America from Germany when she was a little girl. She was living in South Carolina in the Revolutionary War and lived to be over 100 years old, [recently determined to be 95.] descendant said. She married three times and family records differ as to whether Clegg was her first or second hudband. F.P. Johnson believed Clegg was her first husband and said there were four children: Jonathan, Campbell, Elizabeth and Nancy Clegg. Mary Flick Clegg married second [ ] Glauzier, two children: John and Sophis Glauzier; and she married third [ ] Polatty; two children; Sarah and George Polatty from whom all the Polattyks around Greenwood are descended, according to Johnson.

Elizabeth Clegg married Jacob Timmerman of Edgefield.

Nancy married ......."

Rest lays out the rest of the immediate descendants. Since 1982, the missing names she referred to have been documented and inserted.

Jacob ZIMMERMAN Timmerman died in 1826, and his will names his wife as Elizabeth ... with Timmerman naturally since they in those days did not recognize that it would be a research item some 150 years later in the future.

Greenwood County borders Edgefield county, previously designated by the British government in the 'olden' days as Edgefield District. In 1895, several counties were created from portions of Edgefield county which, at that time, was large.

So next I visited the 'hanging ground' in Ninety Six, and said "Hello" to Sam, who, as outlined in the article, was hung there ... and put into one of the graves that Z. Gibbs attested to in his later testimonies.

I also have another Loyalist ancestor, my first and original ZIMMERMAN ... Frederich Wilhelm ZIMMERMAN ... who arrived in 1764, along with the FLICK family (Barbara's family), as part of the infamous 'Poor Palatines' that were stranded in London in 1764 by an unscrupulous land agent, de Stumpel. In fact, many of the Loyalists that fled SC for Nova Scotia, were in this group.

Frederich Wilhelm was killed during the first day at the Siege of Savannah, and is likely also buried on the site ... as later excavations proved when old bones and uniform buttons, etc. were dug up.

...Chuck Timmerman, Nevada {doonboggle AT yahoo DOT com} how do I email him?

UELAC Major Grant #2: Friends of the Loyalists collection at Brock University

UELAC Amount Granted: $1300.00 (See last week's issue for a description of the Grants)

Description of Project:

We are greatly encouraged by the use of the collection, since we have added the Upper Canada Land Grant Petitions, and recently ordered some 30 rolls of microfilm index to simplify the access of these records. These should be in place at Brock in 8 - 10 weeks.

To date we have donated approximately $30,000.00 worth of microfilm, to the Brock University Library Special Collections with $8885.00 added this year. In addition we have added a collection of books pertaining to United Empire Loyalists.

Project Follow-up & Letters of Thanks:

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Loyalist Collection at Brock University, I would like to extend our sincere thanks for the donation from the UELAC.

As requested I have attached a brief outline of our year's activities, and a statement of income and expense which is self explanatory. A detailed listing of the complete collection may be found here.

Loyally, Edward Scott UE, Chairman

Sincere thanks to you and the members of the UELAC for your recent donation to Friends of the Loyalist Collection at Brock University. Our current purchase order includes the Index films to the Upper Canada Land Petitions. They should arrive in the next 2 months. We have the CD Index to the Upper Canada Land Petitions compiled by the Ontario Genealogical Society in the collection and it is helpful but definitely not complete. One of the researchers using our Brock collection found 2 references that he needed on the OGS CD and 7 more not included on the CD in the microfilm index, so the index films are very important additions to the Collection. Ed Scott is currently preparing an official report for the Association. We wanted to let you know how much we appreciate your continuing support for this project.

Loyal regards, Rod and Bev Craig

Welcome to the New Archives of Ontario; Your Help is Needed

The Archives of Ontario (AO) has moved. The doors of 77 Grenville Street closed on Thursday, March 26th at 5 p.m. and the new public service building at 134 Ian Macdonald Boulevard on the Campus of York University opened Thursday April 2nd at 9 a.m. This move to a new public access purpose-built facility is long overdue. The new building is fully equipped to preserve and showcase the AO collections, improve service, and increase customer access.

The management and staff of the AO are to be commended—this move was a massive undertaking. In order to have their doors closed for only one week during the move, the AO temporarily changed their hours of operations. For the first few months, the new hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Weekend and evening hours will return in time with limits – fewer hours but reference archivists will always be on hand.

The new building is near Keele Street at the main entrance to the York University Campus. Entering the building, you are greeted by a reception with a visitor's lounge and lockers nearby. Access to the collection is now provided in one ground floor location. At the entrance to the new Reading Room the first thing you will see is a desk manned by reference archivists. For those of us used to the old location at 77 Grenville, the new reading room feels open and airy, with large new desks, comfortable chairs, task-oriented lighting, conveniently-located outlets and wireless access (coming soon).

All the AO microfilm reels (approximately 48,000) are now stored in the reading room in new cabinets located adjacent to the microfilm reading room. After the restricted space at Grenville Street, the modern task-oriented microfilm reading room will impress any researcher. Tables are at a proper height, with lots of space for taking notes and using your laptop. Some of the old microfilm readers and reader printers have been moved but many new state-of-the-art microfilm / microfiche readers have been purchased. The quality of the images these machines produce is outstanding (with the understanding that if the original image is unreadable the impossible cannot be done). Some of these machines have been set up to print. Staff at the Circulation Desk will give you directions on how to use the new machines and make prints. In time, when issues of virus protection have been resolved, you will be able to download your images to a memory stick.

Not only does the AO have a new building but its website has been completely redesigned. Visit the new site and learn about the building and services. Please note - if you have bookmarked the AO site on your web browser you will have to delete it and re-bookmark it.

You can get to the new AO by car but be forewarned that parking is not cheap and many lots are reserved. I would strongly suggest you use public transit. The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission), GO Transit, York Region Transit, Greyhound and Brampton Transit all stop close by the new AO.

For the location, map, hours and relevant transit schedules, visit their website.

...Kathie Orr (Reprinted from the April-May issue of Fidelity, Toronto Branch's newsletter)

Your help is needed.

We are asking members and branches – particularly the Ontario branches and their members - to contact the AO re their business hours. My understanding from what I had been told by AO staff was that after a settling in time (maybe June) that longer evening and weekend hours - more in line with the hours previously offered in the former location - would be coming back. Although new evening hours would be not go as late as 10:30 p.m., the trade-off would be that a reference archivist would always be on duty – evenings and weekends.

However the extension is not a certainty. The AO website is giving no indication of an extension. Hours listed are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday and unless we actively seek more, those are the hours we may be stuck with.

Reasons for not increasing the hours could be:

1. they have had fewer visitors than expected

2. few people have commented about limited hours – if they have no demand then why supply the service.

3. government bureaucrats (not AO staff) are looking at the numbers – cost of moving and new equipment was higher than expected, so they are looking at ways to cut cost.

4. and again costs – why pay for more union staff, if there is no demand for longer hours. After visiting, my personal assessment is that they would need 2 if not 3 extra staff to cover extended hours.

Please send letters and emails to the AO – they need to hear from us, those who use their facilities, that we need and want the extended evening and weekend hours. If we are polite and understanding

1. about a move of this size that only closed the facility for 1 week was a major feat

2. that they are still sorting themselves out

3. but as tax payers we expect access to our records

then the AO will have the documentation they need to help justify the additional hours. So please help by contacting the AO and indicate your requirements:

By mail, The Archives of Ontario 134 Ian Macdonald Boulevard Toronto, ON M7A 2C5

By email reference@ontario.ca

Although it is a new location, please also make a visit to the new facilities and try them out - more visitors and more messages will help make the case for extended service.

...Kathie Orr {kathie DOT orr AT sympatico DOT ca} how do I email her?

Col. John Butler (Niagara) Branch Noted in Hansard

While there has been excellent response to articles in the March 8 and March 16 editions of Loyalist Trails advocating the submissions of petitions to local MPP's regarding Bill 149, Eugene Oatley, President of the Col. John Butler (Niagara) Branch can proudly point to the April 1 edition of Hansard for the Ontario Legislature as proof that his Branch has indicated its support. At the May 2 meeting of the Branch, he was also able to produce the special folder containing the specific record as sent to him by Kim Craitor MPP for Fort Erie, Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. While you can look up Hansard online, here is the transcription:

Wednesday April 1, 2009   -   CEMETERIES

Mr. Kim Craitor: I'm pleased to introduce this petition. I want to thank Eugene Oatley from the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada, Colonel John Butler (Niagara) Branch. The petition reads as follows:

"To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

"Whereas Ontario's cemeteries are an important part of our cultural heritage, and Ontario's inactive cemeteries are" consistently and "constantly at risk of closure and removal; and

"Ontario's cemeteries are an irreplaceable part of the province's cultural heritage;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

"The government must pass Bill 149, the Inactive Cemeteries Protection Act, 2009, to prohibit the relocation of inactive cemeteries in the province of Ontario."

I'm pleased to sign this petition in support of it.

Congratulations to Col. John Butler (Niagara) Branch on the visible success of their support for Bill 149.

...FHH

Edmonton Branch Annual Founders' Dinner May 20

The Edmonton Branch is holding its 22nd Annual Founders' Dinner on May 20, 2009, to recognize Alberta's early navigators and the 226th anniversary of the arrival of the Spring Fleet. A participant in the David Thompson Brigade 2008 will discuss North America's most important mapmaker, and present "Digging Water," a movie of the re-enactment. Registration deadline is Monday, May 11, 2009. Contact Ivy at {itrump AT telus DOT net} for further information. how do I email her?

...Ivy Trumpour

Talking The Loyalist Message; UELAC.org is a Teachers Resource!

I have been busy lately with several talks. In April I addressed the Lakeshore Genealogical Society in Cobourg, ON, (topic- Early Photography). Later in the month I talked about the Loyalists to the Quinte Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. On May 1st I had the pleasure of visiting the Public School in Wellington where I talked about the Loyalists to the Grade 7 and 8 students. I know a number of UELAC members have gone to elementary schools over the years, but I hadn't made a presentation to such a young group previously. Of particular note, one of the resources used by the teachers was our UELAC website.

...Peter Johnson UE, Past President, UELAC

Buy Back Nova Scotia - Loyalist Connections

Earlier this week I received an email from the Black Loyalist Heritage Society asking our members to support a "Buy Back Nova Scotia Rally" at Province House, Halifax on April 30. At stake were 170,000 acres of woodland, mostly in Digby County, that had been purchased from Bowater by JD Irving in 1994. After the Weymouth sawmill closed down three years ago, the land was put up for sale. The mere mention of Digby in this electronic request raised possibilities of Loyalist connections.

Following the rally, CBC reported that Nova Scotia's Natural Resources Minister Carolyn Bolivar-Getson told approximately 50 demonstrators during their midday protest that the land includes the heritage site of New France and part of the Tusket River in Digby county. She also indicated that the province hopes to purchase approximately 8.5 hectares, or 12 per cent, of a 69-hectare property that JD Irving Limited, is currently offering through sealed bids — land the province says has significant ecological, recreational and heritage value to Nova Scotians. Click here for further details.

Click here for a map of the area and the facts as presented by Buy Back Nova Scotia coalition.

Lewis Perry, President of the Halifax-Dartmouth Branch UELAC doubts that there are any original Loyalist land grants involved. Most, if not all of the grants were in Digby Town and other areas along the coast of Nova Scotia. The Irving lands are well into the interior of Nova Scotia.

...FHH

Communal Bond and Stuart McLean

While driving to the Col. John Butler (Niagara) Branch meeting on Saturday, I was able to listen to Stuart McLean's latest monologue on CBC Radio's Vinyl Cafι. His take on the "communal bond" maintained by newspapers could easily be applied to our Loyalist Gazette and Loyalist Trails, but those values that he describes are also found in the distribution of the Branch newsletters across our country. As he says, "for it is in the sharing that we foster fellowship. And that is what creates community." If you missed the programme, you have a chance to read an adapted version in the Globe and Mail here.

If you want more Loyalist content, read to the end where you will discover how the American Revolution lead to the beginning of the Montreal Gazette. Through sharing our Loyalist Gazettes, Loyalist Trails and Branch newsletters, we too can be on the same page.

...FHH

Loyalist Leaders on the Mend

Bernice Wood Flett, UELAC President 1996-1998, is convalescing at her sister's home following successful surgery last week in London.

John Dale Warburton, a former President of the Toronto Branch and Central West Regional Vice President, continues to make good progress as well since his recent hospital stay.

Both have appreciated the cards and messages of support they have received and hope to return to "normal" life asap.

...FHH

Response re Meaning of BSSh on Mohawk Valley Map

...One of my ancestors operated a blacksmith shop in the 1870s. On an early map I found his residence, and beside it, a spot marked 'BSSh'. I discovered that this referred to a blacksmith shop. In the 1881 Canadian Census, his occupation is listed as 'Blacksmith', as expected. I was told that the map acronym meant "Black Smith-Shoes Horses", although an archealogist told me recently that it could refer to a blacksmith or whitesmith shop, on their diagrams. I'm not sure what a 'whitesmith' is.

From Wikipedia: A whitesmith is a person who works with "white" or light-colored metals such as tin and pewter. While blacksmiths work mostly with hot metal, whitesmiths do the majority of their work on cold metal (although they might use a forge to shape their raw materials). The term is also applied to metalworkers who do only finishing work - such as filing or polishing - on iron and other "black" metals.

...Richard Ripley UE {nffgfamily AT hotmail DOT com} how do I email him?

Proof Needed in Line from Peter Eamer UE

We are having problems connecting the grandson of Loyalist Peter Eamer and his namesake Peter Eamer (b. 04 April 1837) to his parents and son of Loyalist Peter Eamer Jacob & Ann (McQUAY) Eamer. The spelling of this surname has taken many forms (Eamour, Eamor, Amor, Eames, Arner).

Primary or even secondary evidence is needed to connect Peter to his father Jacob. Also, the families used the same given names over and over which causes great confusion; eg: Daniel, Peter & Jacob. This is information that we have.

1) Eamer, Philip b. Circa 1725, m. Luserine, Catrina
Children:
- Eamer, Peter b. 1753 m. Gallinger, Maria Catherine
- Eamer, Dorothy m. Gallinger, Henry
- Eamer, Martin b. 1756
- Eamer, Philip b. 1763 C. 6 Feb 1763 Orange Co. Conghanagany NY
- Eamer, Jelles b. 25 Dec 1773 Cornwall, Stormont Co.
2) Eamer, Peter b. Circ 1757, m. Gallinger, Maria Catherine
Children:
- Eamer, Phillip m. bap. 11 Feb 1786; Mary Cryderman 10 Mar
- Eamer, Catherinr m. Nokes, William
- Eamer, Mary
- Eamer, Peter m. Cline, Catherine 22 Oct. 1805
- Eamer, Olive, m. Philip Empery
- Eamer, Jacob, bap. 7 May 1797
- Eamer, Barbara, bap. 23 June 1793
- Eamer, Daniel
- Eamer, Michael
- Eamer, Matthias
3) Eamer, Jacob b. Abt. 07 May 1794, d. 05 December 1859, m. McQuay, Ann #2 (Chyderman, Hannah #1)
Children: by 2nd wife
- Eamer, Robert b. 22 June 1830 Cornwall C. 1 Aug 1830 d. 26 Dec 1905, m. 20 Oct 1859 James, Jane Montague
- Eamer, George b. 27 Dec 1833 Barnart Island C. 6 Feb 1834
- Eamer, Margaret b. 26 Jun 1835 Barnart Island C. 13 Dec 1835 Cornwall
- Prob. Eamer, Peter b. 1837
- Eamer, Daniel Eamer b. 25 May 1839 Montague bap. 26 Aug 1839 Lanark Montague
- Eamer, Mary b. abt. 1842 d. 10 Dec 1903, m. Jordon, David 29 Dec 1862 Lanark Co.

Here is evidence that we have 'in hand:'

* From the online Loyalist Directory for Peter Eamer- names a s/o Jacob b 7 May 1797 & d. 5 Dec 1839 (the years are very different)

* 1871 Canadian Census - Jacob (88 yrs) & Ann (71 yrs - Irish) are living with son Daniel in North Huron. (Finding this census return certainly calls into question a claimed death date of 1859 for Jacob)

* 1881 Canadian Census - Ann is living with son Daniel in North Huron (Age 85 – Irish, Widow) Obviously Jacob had died between the '71 and '81 returns.

* Marriage 1873 (Grey Co. Huron ON) of Daniel s/o Jacob & Annie McQuay Amer (does not connect him to Peter b. 1837)

* Marriage 1862 (Smith Falls, Lanark Co.) of Mary said d/o Jacob & Annie McQuay Amer (does not connect her to Peter b. abt. 1837)

* Baptism 26 Aug 1839 of Daniel b.25 Mar 1839 s/o Jacob & Ann in Montague

4) Eamer, Peter b. 04 April 1837, Arnprior, Smith Falls, Lanark Co., ON , d. 28 March 1923,Carroll MB, m. Thompson, Margaret b. 29 November 1832, Beckwith, Upper Canada, d. 10 February 1880, Wroxeter, Huron Co., ON

Sources on Peter:

* Peter's Death Registration says his father was Jacob his mother unknown.

* We have Peter in the 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 Canadian Census-but not with his parents

* Margaret's death reg. 1880, Wroxeter, Huron Co., ON

We are missing key source information to connect Peter b. 1837 to his parents Jacob & Ann (McQuay) Eamer. Can anyone help?

...Alice Walchuk, Manitoba Branch {walchuks AT mail DOT drytel DOT net} how do I email him?