Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2009 Archive

In this issue:
- Who Shot the Minister's Wife? -- © Stephen Davidson
- Christmas Season and New Year: A Native Loyalist's View
- Uncle Cy's War - The First World War Letters of Major Cyrus F. Inches
- Silas Raymond (1748 - 1824) - Fifth Generation in America: Part XVII - © 2009 George McNeillie
- Centennial Sermon "The Fathers of Upper Canada" 13 July 1884
- 2010 Olympics and UELAC
- Happy New Year

Who Shot the Minister's Wife? -- © Stephen Davidson

Civilian casualties are an unfortunate fact of war. In 1780, one civilian death set off a scandal that, in the words of the era, so "excited universal Indignation" that some New Jersey loyalists became rebel sympathizers. It was an incident that clearly needed a Crime Scene Investigation unit. Newspapers on opposite sides of the American Revolution each put forth their evidence and let their readers decide who had shot an innocent woman. Two loyalists who would eventually settle in New Brunswick were involved in the case. How might history have been different if someone could have quickly determined who shot the minister's wife?

On Thursday, June 8, 1780, several British and loyalist regiments were camped near Elizabeth Town, New Jersey. Rebel forces in the area attacked the troops, and then retreated to the safety of the small village of Connecticut Farms. The British pursued the rebels, firing their muskets at patriot snipers who shot at them from inside houses. As might be expected in a skirmish fought in the streets of a small village, there were a number of civilian casualties. But it only took the death of one colonist to provoke an outrage.

Had the unfortunate civilian been anyone other than Hannah Caldwell --the mother of nine children and the wife of a local patriot minister-- the skirmish known as Knyphausen's Raid would only have been a small footnote in American history. Instead, the death of Mrs. Caldwell sent shockwaves throughout the Thirteen Colonies.

The agreed upon facts are few. Hannah Caldwell's husband, the Rev. James Caldwell, had recently moved his wife and their nine children to what he thought was the greater safety of Connecticut Farms. An ardent patriot, Caldwell served as the quarter-master general for the Continental Army as well as the pastor for the Elizabethtown Presbyterian church. In June of 1780, he left his family to go off to battle. The British attacked Connecticut Farms. Mrs. Caldwell was shot in the presence of another woman. A Hessian soldier went to the house. Caldwell's body was brought out of the parsonage. The town was set afire.

The accounts found in the rebel and loyalist press seemed to be describing two completely different deaths. One patriot newspaper said that Mrs. Caldwell was praying in her room; others said she was nursing a child; while a third claimed that she heaped verbal abuse upon a passing British soldier.

The rebels maintained that the soldier who came to the Caldwell house was a new recruit --in other words, a loyalist rather than a German or British soldier. He came to the house, put "his gun to the window of the room where the worthy woman was sitting with her children and a maid" and shot her in the chest. Although a Hessian soldier said Caldwell should be buried, her corpse was taken out into the street where it lay for several hours in the hot sun. Finally, friends took it to a neighbouring house.

Then, according to the New Jersey Gazette, "in a spirit of revenge unworthy of the general {Knyphausen}...this settlement...was reduced to ashes." Other rebel accounts say that the rebels did not even fight the British at Connecticut Farms and that this was an unwarrented attack on American civilians. It is little wonder that those who read these accounts in rebel newspapers should be so outraged.

Rivington's Royal Gazette, the loyalist newspaper published in New York City, told a different tale. In its June 20th edition, a British officer gave his account of the death of Hannah Caldwell. He claimed that a patriot musket ball had killed Mrs. Caldwell since it came from the direction in which rebels had been firing on the British. The officer defended the burning of Connecticut Farms, saying the troops had to destroy "dwellings which they find hourly occupied by armed men" who did not fight out on battlefields.

Ebenezer Foster, a loyalist from Woodbridge, New Jersey, wrote his own account of the skirmish. Foster had been a judge of the inferior court before his loyalty to the crown forced him to flee to Staten Island. At the end of the Revolution, he settled on the Isle of Pines on the St. John River with his wife Mary and their three children. Foster co-wrote a report on land claims and became a member of the colony's house of assembly in 1787. However, seven years earlier, the loyalist had come to Connecticut Farms just after the British attack.

Foster said that he was with the British troops that advanced on the village. He saw a group of soldiers around the parsonage and heard them sadly report a woman's death. Foster entered the house, finding Hannah's body on a bed in a small, windowless back room. A cloth lay over the woman's face. Foster left, assuming that neighbours would soon see to the body.

When he returned to the house three hours later, the parsonage had been plundered, and Mrs. Caldwell's body was face down on the floor. Another loyalist named Benjamin Dunn entered the room, and was "sensibly touched with the humane feelings of an informed loyalist".

The two men tried to discover the cause of Caldwell's death. One bedroom door opened into the pantry at the back of the parsonage which faced north. The musket ball that killed Mrs. Caldwell had passed through joints in a plaster wall, entering from the north -- the rebels' line of fire.

Benjamin Dunn then went next door to have Caldwell's body removed. A young woman in the house claimed to have been on Mrs. Caldwell's bed when the Continental Troops shot her. A Hessian sentinel then guarded the parsonage door while the neighbours tended to the dead woman's corpse. Two hours later, the village was set on fire.

(Dunn, a loyalist from Piscataway, New Jersey, became one of the thousands of refugees who sailed for New Brunswick in 1783. After initially settling in the Quaker village of Beaver Harbour, he went to Campobello Island with his wife Mary and their two children.)

Had Hannah Caldwell died at the hands of a loyalist? Was she killed by friendly fire? The answer to the question of "Who shot the minister's wife?" may actually be neither the loyalist nor the patriot version. In The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Benson Lossing has a very interesting footnote. According to 1780 sources, Hannah Caldwell's death was a deliberate murder.

A reporter with The Newark Advertiser claimed that there was "evidence of a very direct character" to show that a former employee of Rev. Caldwell, an Irishman named McDonald, had used the British attack on Connecticut Farms to take revenge on the family by killing Mrs. Caldwell. A witness saw McDonald after the murder and heard him boast that he had shot the minister's wife and "was satisfied". The Irishman then left New Jersey and joined the British forces.

One question. Three answers. Who shot the minister's wife?

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

Christmas Season and New Year: A Native Loyalist's View

The illustrious Mohawk leader, Joseph Thayendanegea Brant, was a visionary who saw the merits of remaining loyal to the Crown as he used his powers of persuasion to compel the Haudenosaunee to join with other Loyalists to seek a new life in a new land. It wasn't without controversy, of course, but few things in life requiring sacrifices are ever as easy as they may seem.

Carved from a huge swath of land in today's Ontario, Brant's legacy would become synonymous with his namesake city, Brantford, but more important would be his securing lands that would evolve into one of the most vibrant and viable First Nations communities in Canada, the Six Nations of the Grand River.

At the time, embers from the Grand Council fire at Onondaga near Syracuse New York were brought to the newly created Six Nations with the original intent of being rejoined with the Grand Council fire after hostilities had ended and the traditional homelands in New York state (or what remained of them) were returned to the respective Haudenosaunee Nations. As hope faded, it became sorrowfully obvious this was not going to happen and Six Nations more or less assumed its own Council Fire.

Despite Brant's formal education and adoption of many of the British ways of life, he never forgot his Mohawk identity and obligations as a Mohawk leader. While his Haudenosaunee critics lambasted his seeming indifference to his Traditional teachings, it should be remembered his last words spoken to his adopted nephew John Norton were: ""Have pity on the poor Indians. If you have any influence with the great, endeavor to use it for their good." Forty-three years after his passing in 1807, his remains were carried fifty-five kilometres on the shoulders of young Six Nations men to his final resting place in a tomb alongside of Her Majesty's Chapel of the Mohawks in Brantford. Both his final words and his final trip back to the village he founded are testaments to his dedication to his Nation and its People.

The Ohenton Kariwatehkwen - the Thanksgiving Address - is a recitation that Joseph Brant would have been extremely familiar with and while it would have been spoken in a Haudenosaunee language, its meaning is virtually identical to the text used in the Four Directions Youth Project. If Brant were alive today, undoubtedly he would be both impressed and honoured that such a key component of his culture would form the basis of a program being presented to non-Native youth in a bid to bolster self-pride and integrity.

Brant's conversion to Anglicism and his complete translation of the Book of Common Prayer and Gospel of Mark into his Mohawk language paid serious homage to his fellow non-Native Loyalists and their religious convictions. Albeit more than two centuries after his passing, it's fitting that his fellow Loyalist descendants are acknowledging his efforts by supporting an initiative which showcases his cultural identity in the form of the Four Directions Youth Project.

[Editor: As the Dominion Office closed on Dec 17 for the Christmas Break, an update on the FDYP Fundraising Campaign is not available. Should you wish to show your support with a donation, choose one of the methods suggested in UEL Charitable Trust Donations. Help UELAC meet our commitment to the youth of our country.]

...David Kanowakeron Hill Morrison UE

Uncle Cy's War - The First World War Letters of Major Cyrus F. Inches

Part 3 of 3. See cover of Uncle Cy's War.

Part 3 of this series relates the experiences of Major Cyrus F. Inches of the 1st Canadian Heavy Battery while overseas in the final two years of the Great War. In contrast to our own celebrations, Valerie Teed, newsletter editor for the New Brunswick Branch UELAC has chosen a few of the 192 letters that form the core of her book released in November.

The Royal Overseas Officers Club at the RAC Pall Mall London SW1 15th Dec 1917

Dear Ken

I left the mess this morning at 9:30, jumped into a motor car and reached London at 5:30, coming straight here. Just as I was going to dinner I met Sandy MacMillan who was spending his last day of his leave. We had dinner together. The theatres were generally booked up, being the Xmas season and Saturday night, but by chance I was able to get an odd seat at the Palace where Lily Elsie is the chief attraction. Tomorrow morning I leave Waterloo for Winchester where I have been detailed to attend a battery commanders course of two weeks, or a month - opinion is divided on the subject - and I have a sanction in my pocket for two weeks leave after the course is over provided I am not recalled.

Yours Sincerely Cyrus

Bonn 21 December 1918

Dear Ken

Now that the train service is better, the letters are not so long delayed.

The railway from Arras to Mons was completely destroyed and had to be repaired - this was done by the Canadian Railway people who are the adepts out here for that sort of thing, as well as forestry.

We are making preparations for the celebration of Christmas. We ordered turkeys for the men but it looks as if they might not come. The mess is deluged with parcels from Canada with all kinds of eatables. I never had such a surfeit of sweets in my life. Tomorrow I am quite determined to make my visit to Cologne. I ought to be shot, I know, for not going sooner, but sight seeing never appealed to me to any great degree though I suppose it has educational value.

I had a humourous letter today from Col Iles who is home for Christmas. He has had five days shopping in London with his wife and declares that he considers wives a luxury and that Bonar Law should tax them as such.

Sincerely Cy

Uncle Cy's War (ISBN 978-0-86492-542-8), edited by Valerie Teed is available in Canada at Chapters, Indigo and Coles book stores. It is also available at Barnes & Noble in the United States... and online.

Silas Raymond (1748 - 1824) - Fifth Generation in America: Part XVII - © 2009 George McNeillie

[Part 1, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, Part XV, Part XVI]

Being very encouraged "by the very liberal and generous response," a vote was passed at a meeting on the 4th of February, 1789, to build a church of 50 feet in length by 38 feet in breadth under the direction of the vestry. Capt. John Lyon, Silas Raymond and Elias Scribner were appointed Trustees to obtain the lumber necessary. At the Easter Monday meeting it was agreed - "when planting and seed-time was over to proceed to framing and raising the Church."

Silas Raymond and his whole family were greatly interested in the building of the Church. The oldest boy Samuel, who was then only fifteen, claimed in after years the honour of cutting the first tree on the site of the Kingston Church. The skill of Silas, the father, as a builder, was used to advantage, and today, after the lapse of 130 years, the building is standing, in excellent preservation, as a memorial of his faithful work and excellent choice of materials.

On June 27, 1789 - "Through the spirited and unwearied expertise exertions of the people, the framing of the said house of worship was completed, and on this day erected - a very good fraim, in due order, without any misfortune happening, to the encouragement and satisfaction of all present."

The next entry, under date November 5, 1789, records the accomplishments of the work, so finely undertaken by the Loyalist exiles of Kingston, the record in the minutes being as usual in the handwriting of Israel Hoyt, vestry clerk: -

"Having accomplished the covering and inclosing of the said Fraim, or House, it was on this day dedicated to the service and worship of Almighty God in the name of Trinity Church." [the Rev. James Scovil conducted the service].

Much still remained to be done before the Church could be regarded as complete. Seats and furniture had still to be provided and these things were gradually procured. It was agreed in 1808 that Silas Raymond, Thomas Fairweather and Moses Foster, carpenters, be employed to erect a steeple to the church and an end gallery.

On July 13, 1809, the steeple was raised without accident "in perfect harmony and good order." Stoves were provided in 1810. A small chancel with a "Venitian Window" was added in 1811. A Bell weighing 129 lbs. was donated in 1813, and the sum of two pounds, ten shillings a year was voted for "tending the stove and ringing the bell." In 1822, Silas Raymond received the thanks of the Rector, Church Wardens and Vestry for the very liberal donation of "a decent suit of hangings for the reading desk and pulpit, along with a covering for the Communion Table of the Church."

A glance through the Vestry minutes will serve to show that Silas Raymond was a leading member of the early vestries of the parish. In 1811 he was a Warden. His son Charles, my Grandfather, was Vestry Clerk 1813 to 1818, and his penmanship is I think unequalled by that of any of his successors in office or probably by any of his descendants. The youngest son of the family, "Uncle George," was Treasurer of the Church in 1836, and a vestryman from 1821 to 1853, with the exception of two years. A grandson of Silas Raymond, cousin John Raymond, who for many years taught the King's County Grammar School, was Vestry Clerk in 1845. John Marvin, the son of Silas Raymond's eldest daughter Grace, was Church Warden for some years prior to his removal to Springfield in 1811.

Excerpt from Book of Family History written by The Ven. William Odber Raymond, LL.D, FRSC. © 2009 George McNeillie - all rights reserved [published here with permission; see footnote]

...George McNeillie, {ggm3rd AT sympatico DOT ca} how do I email him?

Centennial Sermon "The Fathers of Upper Canada" 13 July 1884

I am the great granddaughter of Matilda Mac Nab UE daughter of Rev. Alexander Mac Nab UEL. My grandmother is Alys Carter. When in Toronto some years ago I received from the Church this published speech my Great Grandfather Rev. Canon Alexander Mac Nab made at a centennial celebration. I estimate my grandmother would have been about 3yrs old and in attendance.

When I was 3-4 years old my grandmother Alys Ann Carter and my grandfather Herbert Havelock Hann came to live with my family having built a studio attached to our home. My grandmother was a true Loyalist and from my youth she and I spent many hours together. She taught me the bible and read to me everyday. My grandfather and I went hiking every day in the foothills of Eagle Rock, California. Of her three grandchildren I was the one most interested in all our conversations about family, her elopement to marry her beloved husband immigrating to Oregon as a young lady. The many hiking trips they made on Mt. Hood and skiing Mt. Hood and the many dangers. She was educated in England and very knowledgeable on many subjects. They lived in Hood River, Oregon for many years and had two children. She read me the letters from family and I felt I knew them well. In short my grandmother and grandfather had a great influence in my upbringing.

When Queen Elizabeth was Crowned we discussed the intricacies of her obligations to rule England and all it's people. My grandfather also left home for a new life as his family did not approve of his marriage to a young lady not within their financial status. They met while both families were visiting Niagara Falls.

I am sure that due to my grandparents influence in my life as a youth I have great respect for family history, Canada, music (her father was John Carter, Organist and Choir Master), hiking, and nature study. Fortunately for me I have access to Ancestry.com, Internet, etc. I have been able to find on Ancestry.com the family ties to the Royal families from many countries through the Simmons side of the family. My only regret is not having the many stories written down about the Hann family, the Carter family and Mac Nab family.

Centennial Sermon "The Fathers of Upper Canada"

[Published by request in the second edition, Bowmanville, News Steam Print, Corner King and Silver Streets, MDCCCLXXIV, pg2

Sermon, preached before Staff Officers 45th Battalion, and Officers and Men of No. I Company, Volunteers, in St. John's Church, Bowmanville, on Sunday, 13th July, 1884, by the Rector, the Rev. A. MacNab, D.D.]

"We have heard with our ears O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old." ---Psa. xliv-1.

There is perhaps no civilized nation, or savage tribe, in which veneration is not felt for a remote ancestry. With what strange pleasure does the Scottish mountaineer listen "through the livelong night," to the wild notes of the border minstrel! With what transport do the wild men of America recount in the rude war song, the valour and sufferings of their forefathers; and how does it charm away sleep from the little prattler by our fireside, to hear the simplest tales of 'other' times! There is somewhere a chord in our "harp of a thousand strings," which is mysteriously touched by every whisper that steals upon us from regions and objects over which a remote period has cast a solemn and deepening shade.

There can be no doubt, that this deep and heart-stirring interest in the antiquities of the nation or community to which men belong, and this innate reverence for their ancestors, may be carried to an extreme. Extravagant panegyric never fails to detract, even from a well-earned reputation--and when men ascribe that glory to their fathers, which belongs only to the Sovereign of the universe, such impiety deserves the severest reprehension.

But something more than mere cold and casual allusions, is certainly due to the memory of those, from whom, under God, a happy posterity have received all the civil and religious blessings. And if ever the founders of a community were entitled to live in the grateful recollection of all generations, this honor belongs pre-eminently to the first settlers of Upper Canada. Surely the United Empire Loyalists, who were its fathers, and to whom their descendants are indebted for richer blessings than any other people ever enjoyed, 'ought' "to be had in everlasting remembrance." For, it is not too much to say that, the whole world may safely be challenged to produce a single example of sound wisdom, high minded patriotism, and marvelous forecast, in the 'founders' of any 'ancient,' or 'modern' community, which can for a moment be compared with the instance which Western Canada has furnished. But, in celebrating their virtues let us not forget who it was that endowed them with such 'uncommon' powers, 'mental, moral and physical.' "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us what work 'Thou' didst in their days, in the times of old." Had this passage been designed by the sacred writer for our recent celebrations of the Centennial of the first settlement of the Province of Ontario, it could not have been more appropriate; and were our fathers now permitted to appear, and write their own memorial in the skies, it would most certainly begin and end with, "Not unto us, O God, not unto us, but to Thy name give glory." And it is a most gratifying fact to record, that throughout the joyful solemnities of the last few weeks our people have steadily kept their eye upon the hand of God, scarcely less visible in the first settlement and subsequent prosperity of Upper Canada, than it had been, in behalf of his ancient people to whom reference is made in our text. In the Psalm, whence it is taken, the 'Church' is taught to own with thankfulness, to the glory of God, the great things He had done for 'Israel's fathers..'

And to-day, the 'Church'--which "is a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ," teaches us that every age owes to posterity, to keep an account of God's works of wonder, and to transmit the knowledge of them to the next generation. Of this we have in the Scripture a sure word of history, as sure as the word of prophecy. "One generation" says David. "shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts." "The fathers to the children," says good king Hezekiah, "shall make known Thy truth." The 'less' praise this allows 'us', the more comfort it administers, that we may see all our successes and enlargements, coming from the favour of God, and the light of His countenance. This principle was solemnly maintained in the recent Centennial celebration at Adolphustown, where, in laying the corner stone of a memorial church there, His Honour, Lieutenant Governor Robinson, a descendant of an illustrious U. E. Loyalist family, said, "we lay this stone of foundation to the honour and glory of God, and in memory of the United Empire Loyalists, who, a hundred years ago, laid the corner stone of our Province in peace and righteousness, and in loyalty to the British crown and Empire."

And a scene of touching sublimity was witnessed at the Pavillion, Toronto, on centenary day, when, in the presence of an immense concourse, the Lord Bishop of Niagara, Dr. Fuller, a native Canadian, accorded their public recognition of Divine Providence in the early settlement and subsequent prosperity of Upper Canada, and closed the festivities of that grand occasion by pronouncing the Apostolic benediction. What added much to the impressiveness of the scene was the consideration that from his lordship's great age and feeble health it was probably one of the very last acts of his official life.

Another similar Centennial celebration is shortly to take place on the old historic plains at Niagara. Ontario has a noble parentage, the remembrance of which its inhabitants may well cherish with respect, affection and pride. To do full justice to the fathers of Upper Canada, would require the collecting, arranging, and digesting materials for several volumes. It must be obvious, upon a moment's reflection, that the limits of a single discourse will barely admit of a very general and rapid outline. The utmost to which I can aspire on this occasion, is to exhibit a brief and intelligible sketch of the ordering and protection of a wise and mysterious Providence in the sacrifices, sufferings, perils and deliverances of our Upper Canadian fathers--together with a few of the prominent features of their character, and the happy result of the whole in the unexampled well-being of three generations.

In briefly tracing the chain of events which led to the first settlement--a hundred years ago, of Western Canada, I shall begin with the causes that operated to bring to our shores about ten thousand American loyalists. The "United Empire Loyalist" was one who advocated, or wished to have maintained, the unity of the British empire, who felt as much a Briton in the colony of America, as if he were in old England, Ireland, or Scotland; who desired to perpetuate British monarchical rule in America; not blindly believing that no imperfections could exist in such rule, but desiring to seek reform not in a rebellious but conservative spirit. This class became, as the tide of rebellion in the 13 revolted colonies--now the United States--gained strength and violence, exceedingly obnoxious to those who had arrayed themselves against their King, Parliament, and Constitution. Dr. Canniff, the admirable historian of the early settlement of the Bay of Quinte, by the U. E. Loyalists, himself one of their most enthusiastic descendants, divides them into three classes, viz. :---

1. Those who were forced to leave the revolted provinces during the contest, many of whom took part in the war.

2. Those who were driven away after the war, because they were known or suspected to have sympathy with the loyalist party.

3. Those who would not remain in the Republic, who voluntarily forsook the land of their birth or adoption and removed to a country which acknowledged the sovereignty of the king of England.

The Majority of those who settled Upper Canada, were natives of the old British Provinces of New York, Pennsylvania and the New England States, but there came, as well, many a true son of England, Ireland, and Scotland, as also a sprinkling of Huguenots and Germans. This noble class preferred to enter a wilderness and hew out for themselves and their children, a new home under the good "old flag which for a thousand years has braved the battle and the breeze."

From the accumulated testimony of those who have supplied statements of family history, it could be easily shown how cruel were the persecutions raised against them, how relentless the spirit of revengefulness. During the rebellion the Loyalists having been stripped of their rights and property, driven from their homes, killed at pleasure, at the close of the war were exiled from all right of residence and citizenship, their enemies having taken possession of their comfortable homes and valuable estates, without either remorse or compensation. All this, however, it may be said very properly should in a sense be forgotten--buried in the past. A course, this, which would seem to be indicated by the great Ruler--the sovereign disposer of all events--and it is one that commends itself to the magnanimity of all true Christian Patriots. And as a matter of fact, I am happy to know, as an old Canadian, that the animosities which long existed between the Americans and Canadians, are gradually subsiding, are being superseded by feelings of mutual respect and friendship, strengthened by extensive commercial and social relations.

[Submitted by Phyllis Robbins, Los Angeles, CA]

2010 Olympics and UELAC

Last Saturday, the Olympic Torch passed through Oakville on its way to Vancouver. Due to the ice on the Sixteen Mile Creek, it was not possible for Adam Van Koeverden to use his kayak in his part of the relay. However, as in many other communities, there are many other memories that are being exchanged in the lead-up to the 2010 Olympics. To date, I have yet to hear of any involvement of a UELAC member or UEL descendant with the relay.

In the 2009-49 Dec 6, 2009 issue of Loyalist Trails we were able to recount the story of Dr. Frederick Munroe Bourne and his involvement with the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics, the 1988 Torch Relay and the New Brunswick Branch. Last week, Dan Stone submitted the story of his fourth great grandfather Johann Christiann Schelp Jr, a private in the 2nd Battalion, KRRNY. Dan is also proud of his brother's athletic success. Curtis Charles Stone, a former world class long distance runner is a 3 time Olympian, competing for the USA in the London, Helsinki, and Melbourne games (1948-52-56). He did not medal, but he was 6th in the 10K in London. He was a Gold medallist in the 1950 Pan American games 10K - a deliberate tie with Browning Ross.

Continuing in my search for a connection between UELAC and the Olympics, I would like to repeat my request of (LT) November 29 soliciting information regarding any Olympic/World Record medallist/athlete who is a also descendant of a United Empire Loyalist.

...Frederick H. Hayward

Happy New Year

I would like to say a great big thank you to all of those who have contributed one or more items to Loyalist Trails. I would like to say a special thanks to those who have been regular or frequent contributors and submitted multiple items, including Stephen Davidson, Fred Hayward, David Kanowakeron Hill Morrison, George McNeillie, Richard Ripley and many more.

I receive notes of appreciation for Loyalist Trails, which I started over 5 and one-half years ago in May of 2004. But as I do not write any content and try to edit most items only minimally, the real thanks goes to those who contribute. The main objective of Loyalist Trails was to contribute to one of the UELAC objectives - to preserve and promote our Loyalist heritage. I hope the many stories, vignettes and news items have helped improve your understanding of the life and times of the loyalists - in the case of most of you readers, one or more of your ancestors. I know I have learned a great deal.

So once again thanks for helping make 2009 another good year for Loyalist Trails. As we enter 2010, may I suggest a New Year's Resolution to each of you - to provide one item to Loyalist Trails and/or the Loyalist Directory in 2010.

I hope you have had an enjoyable Christmas season thus far. I wish you a Happy New Year celebration and a healthy, happy and prosperous 2010.