Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2010 Archive

In this issue:
- Another Crazy Quilt of Loyalist Squares -- © Stephen Davidson
- William and Sarah Frost (Part 3 of 14; © 2009 George McNeillie)
- United Empire Loyalist Day 2010
- Successful UELAC Conference 2010 Concludes
- The Tech Side: "Building Fences" by Wayne Scott
- Additions to the Loyalist Directory
- Last Post: Duff Roblin
- Queries
      + Information About Joel Ingersoll, Named on a St Alban's Church Tile
      + Response re Information About Thomas Fuller, Named on a St Alban's Church Tile

Another Crazy Quilt of Loyalist Squares -- © Stephen Davidson

As I search the websites of the internet for loyalist information, I often think of myself as a quilter who is looking for matching bits of fabric. However, I continue to come across "squares" of data that, although fascinating in themselves, have no matches, and I am unable to create a larger story quilt with them. However, there is such a thing as a "crazy quilt" -- bedding made of unmatched squares. Here then, is another crazy quilt article comprised of little story squares.

Were it not for loyalists, there would be no such word as "lynch" in the English language. Meaning, "to illegally execute", "lynch" was originally the name of a justice of the peace in Virginia during the American Revolution. A committed patriot, Charles Lynch used his access to court records to identify local loyalists. After sending out rebel gangs to arrest them, Lynch charged the unfortunate loyalists with treason and had them hanged. Often wealthy Virginians were accused of "adhering to the enemy" so that they could be fined for treason. After their money was collected, the Lynch would have them executed anyway. One historian estimates that hundreds, if not thousands, of loyalists were "lynched".

Following the Revolution, laws were passed that forbid any charges to be laid against those who conducted the illegal executions. The Virginia legislature exonerated Charles Lynch, recognizing him as a great patriot for his tireless efforts to expose loyalists. Lynch scarred the South with a shameful legacy: a tolerance --and even acceptance-- of vigilante hangings, a legacy that continued right up to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Bigoted Southerners hanged innocent African-Americans for their principles as two hundred years before they had executed innocent loyalists.

Did you know that the loyalist province of New Brunswick was almost named New Ireland? It was not an illogical proposition. Irishmen figured prominently in the colony's history both before and after the arrival of the loyalist refugees. Had it not been for the Irishman, Major Gilfred Studholme, there would have been no Fort Howe to guard Parrtown's harbour which received the loyalist evacuation ships in 1783. Sir Guy Carleton, the commander-in-chief who orchestrated the arrival of New Brunswick's loyalist pioneers, was a native of County Tyrone.

Four years before loyalists petitioned the crown to have the western portion of Nova Scotia made into a new colony,William Knox made a similar suggestion. Knox, the colonial secretary of state for Nova Scotia, felt that this new colony ought to be named New Ireland. The secretary, it should be noted, was also an Irishman.

However, it was not a good time to make such a suggestion to King George III. An independence movement was sweeping through Ireland, and it would not do to name a colony in North America after a rebellious part of the United Kingdom. Thus, the new colony created by loyalist refugees was named for one of George III's German holdings, the duchy of Braunschweig. Anglicized, the duchy's namesake is known to this day as "New Brunswick".

Remember Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, The Scarlet Letter? Loyalist history has its own version of that story. In a book about the New Jersey Volunteers, a footnote records an interesting incident. Brigadier General Skinner, the commander of the loyalist brigade, ordered Captain John Williams to go through Monmouth County, New Jersey and mark all of the rebel houses with a capital "R", thus enabling the county's loyalists to know "who they were at liberty to annoy".

Loyalist history is full of interesting cross-connections. The Tory painter, John Singleton Copley, unknowingly captured the likeness of his daughter's future husband forty years before the couple had met one another. As Copley worked to make a portrait of Lucretia Chandler in his Boston studio, he included the young woman's nephew Gardiner Green in the painting, putting him next to her armchair. In the wake of the Revolution, Copley and his family fled to England, never to return to their native Massachusetts. Gardiner Green grew up and --following the Revolution -- became a famous merchant in Boston. While on a trip to England, Green met John Copley's daughter, and the two were married in 1800. The 62 year-old Copley attended his daughter's wedding, but whether he recognized the groom as little boy he had once painted in Boston goes unrecorded.

Perhaps one of the oddest facts of loyalist history is that hundreds of modern day African-Nova Scotians can rightfully affix the initials "U. E." to their names, even though they are not the descendants of black loyalists. Their common ancestor is, nevertheless, a loyalist.

Following the Revolution, John Wentworth, the last royal governor of New Hampshire, moved to Nova Scotia to become the colony's surveyor general. By 1792, he had become the colony's governor. Wentworth maintained a summer home and farm in the Preston area, a community to the east of Halifax that had been settled by black loyalists and Jamaican Maroons. Here he had a number of black servants, including a Jamaican woman named Sarah Colley.

Colley became Wentworth's mistress and bore him a son named George Wentworth Colley. Wentworth's illegitimate son went on to have many descendants. When one of them, a Harriet Colley, died at age 98 in 1991, she left 149 grandchildren, 316 great-grand children, 86 great-great-grandchildren, 45 great-great-great-grandchildren and 6 great-great-great-great-grandchildren. This September, to my utter surprise and delight, I discovered that I have a student named Colley in my homeroom -- a descendant of New Hampshire's last loyalist governor. Now there are at least two "U.E"s in the class!

Loyalist shoemakers obviously recognized a good shoe when they saw one. In the ledger of the shoes he made for the loyalist settlers of Kingston, New Brunswick, Israel Hoyt lists that he made moccasins -- the footwear of North America's Natives.

William and Sarah Frost (Part 3 of 14; © 2009 George McNeillie)

We shall relate presently the story of the coming to St. John of the "Summer Fleet" with its band of Loyal exiles, as told by Mrs. Nelson's Grandmother, Sarah Frost, in the diary she kept of the voyage, which is yet extant, and of which I made a copy some years ago. But first a reference to some other contemporary records may be made.

The names of the transport vessels have been preserved in the following advertisement in a New York paper:-

- "Notice To Refugees" -

"The following Transports, viz., Two Sisters, Hopewell, Symmetry, Generous Friends, Bridgewater, Thames, Tartar, Amity's Production, Duchess of Gordon, Littledale, William and Mary, and Free Briton, which are to carry companies commanded by Sylvanus Whitney, Joseph Gorham, Henry Thomas, John Forrester, Thomas Elms, John Cock, Joseph Clarke, James Hoyt, Christopher Benson, Joseph Forrester, Thomas Welch, Oliver Bourdet, Asher Dunham, Abiather Camp, Peter Berton, Richard Hill and Moses Pitcher, will certainly fall down on Monday morning to Staten Island; it will therefore be absolutely necessary for the people who are appointed to go in these companies to be all on board tomorrow evening.

New York, June 7th, 1783."

There is also in existence a "Return of the number of Loyalists gone to St. John's River in Nova Scotia, as per returns left in the office of the Commissary General Brook Watson at New York", which is printed in my St. John River History at p. 526. the number who sailed in the ship "Two Sisters", in the company under Captain Sylvanus Whitney, is given as 42 men, 27 women, 87 children, 12 servants. Total 168.

In the ship "Free Briton", with Peter Berton's company, the number is 31 men, 20 women, 51 children, 30 servants. Total 132. In the whole fleet the number of passengers is given as 500 men, 335 women, 743 children, 394 servants. Total 1,972.

In Sabine's "Loyalists of the American Revolution", Vol. 1, p. 313, mention is made of John Clarke of Rhode Island as having arrived in St. John on the 29th of June, 1783, "At which time only two log huts had been erected on its site. He received the same year the grant of land. The government gave him and every other grantee 500 feet of very ordinary boards towards covering their buildings. City lots sold in 1783 at from two to twenty dollars. He bought one for the price of executing the deed of conveyance and a treat." John Clark [sic] was clerk of Trinity Church in St. John nearly fifty years. He died in St. John in 1853 in his ninety-fourth year leaving numerous descendants. His grandson, Clement P. Clarke, was for several years one of the Wardens of Trinity Church. He was proprietor for years of a well known drug store on the south side of King Street, a few doors below King Square. His daughter, Mrs. Allan Schofield is now the wife of the Mayor of St. John [1921].

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

...George McNeillie

United Empire Loyalist Day 2010

United Empire Loyalist Day as celebrated in Ontario and Saskatchewan is fast approaching. Although nothing formal has been done to document the various activities conducted by branches in those two provinces, I am aware of the details included in the recent newsletters. Once again, I will join in honouring our ancestors at Hamilton's United Empire Loyalist monument with my home Branch. However, I did want to draw attention to the plans for the Regina and London and Western Ontario Branches.

Last week in Vernon, the Dominion Council approved the request of the Regina Branch for a new charter to officially change its name to Saskatchewan Branch. The charter presented to President Ken Mackenzie is dated 19 June 2010 in recognition of UEL Day in Saskatchewan. Past President Logan Bjarnason is planning to use the image of the charter in the programme for the UEL Day gathering at the Loyalist Cairn.

June Klassen, President of the London and Western Ontario Branch, sent me a copy of their program to be used at Eldon House in London. For those not attending, you can read the program here. Take note of the Loyalist Connection to Eldon House and the biography of Phillip Edward Meric Leith, a direct descendant of Capt. Samuel Ryerse. For those attending any part of the events held at The Interpretive Centre, the pamphlet will be a fine memento of 19 June 2010 at Eldon House.

This June 19th, remember to show your colours.

...FHH

Successful UELAC Conference 2010 Concludes

As I said in the UELAC President's welcome letter included in the conference programme, "the efforts of the four Branches of the Pacific Region in overcoming geographic distances, organizational frustrations and personal challenges to give us a conference ...to remember" is greatly appreciated.

Now that we are home from "Beyond the Mountains", this report about the conference started out simply as a few paragraphs, but augmented by photographs from Albert Schepers and Ray Cumins, I found that pictures are truly worth a thousand words. The result was nine pages of text and photographs - click here (PDF) to read this report.

The Beyond the Mountains Conference 2010 was a great success. I would like to thank the Pacific Region namely Victoria, Vancouver, and Chilliwack Branches and the host branch, Thompson-Okanagan, for their organization, hospitality, and attention to detail. Nothing succeeds like success.

...Frederick H. Hayward, President

The Tech Side: "Building Fences" by Wayne Scott

A lot of talk takes place about cleaning up the clutter that seems to invade our workspace. Some of our desks are messy, some of our computers are full of cookies and temporary internet files, and our desktop real estate is awash in icons. Fortunately there is an easy fix for your desktop.

Stardock.com is a company renowned for a program called Window Blinds. This program allows you customize your windows desktop. You can 'have it your way', as the expression goes. Recently, Stardock.com came out with a new program called Fences. There are two versions, one is free and the other is called the Pro version which has a small price tag. For most of us, the free version is all we need. There is no Mac version because an Apple computer already does most of the work of Fences already. Some comments suggest that Fences is a utility that bridges a tiny bit of the gap between the two competing operating systems.

Stardock.com Fences can be found here: both versions, free and pro, are compared. With the click of a button, you will be sent to CNET for the download. It is a small file.

Once downloaded, you will have the option of letting the program organize your desktop icons, or you can do it yourself. The idea is simple. Your desktop icons can be placed inside fences. These fences generally hold icons of a similar nature, such as Security, Publishing, Photo, etc. By keeping all of your Photo software in one place, for example, you don't have to hunt for a program you may not use too often. Just select the Photo fence (or whatever name you've given to the fence), find the program icon you need, and click on it.

A fence can be placed anywhere on your desktop by dragging it by the title. As many icons as you wish can be placed inside a fence. A fence can easily be resized , and handy scroll bars appear if icons become hidden due to resizing. Of course fences can be renamed, and can be adjusted for transparency or colour.

One neat trick is the ability to make all of your desktop icons disappear. Many people find this feature out by accident. By double clicking inside an open area of a fence, all of your desktop icons vanish. The first time this happens, a window opens to explain what happened, and how to regain your icons. To do so, you simply double click an open area of your desktop. This can be a useful particularly if you like the look of a clean desktop, and the wallpaper you may not have seen much of in past weeks.

Fences are totally under your control. They can be locked in place, or have the ability to be moved around. By clicking the Fences icon on your desktop, new fences can be easily created and named. They can be adjusted and resized. Colours can be adjusted and a border can be added.

At a cost of about 20. USD, you can own the pro version. It has a lot more controls. One of interest is the ability to create a rule where any new icons placed on your desktop would be placed inside a predetermined fence. After a while, the new icon can be moved to a more suitable fence if you so wish. Other attributes of the pro version include the ability to 'skin' a fence with a number of things such as textures or wallpapers. Fences can be set to automatically fade away if not used for a period of time. Stardock.com claims to be working on other refinements.

Whichever version you decide to try, I am sure that fences will help. In doing genealogy or any other research, quite a tangle of material might find its way to your desktop. Creating a fence with folders, where notes, websites, and other data can be pasted to, might help keep track of this important material.

Again, the basic version of Fences is free. It is simple to use and solves some of life's little problems -- a cluttered desktop and . . . wait for it . . . yes, it does Windows!

Additions to the Loyalist Directory

As time permits, we add information to the Loyalist Directory. The latest additions and updates are as follows:
- Thompson, Cornelius by Barbara Purin
- Willson, Samuel - from David Clark

Last Post: Duff Roblin

On May 30, Duff Roblin, the 14th Premier of Manitoba died at the age of 93. The Winnipeg Free Press hailed Duff Roblin as a "visionary leader" in the lead article Province loses Tremendous Premier. For many members of UELAC, the name "Roblin" also serves as a link to the United Empire Loyalist family which settled in the Bay of Quinte area. The family story that leads from the Adolphustown landing to the political life in Manitoba can be found in The Loyalists, Pioneers and Settlers of the West (PDF).

...FHH

Information About Joel Ingersoll, Named on a St Alban's Church Tile

One of the projects at the St. Alban Loyalist Church is to write a book with pictures of the the tiles found on the Church walls. For some of these individuals, little information has been found to date.

This tile - see image - was ordered and paid for by M.B. Ingersoll, Regina, Assa. NWT, Aug. 1888

I am curious to know how she would have learned of the tile project, living as far from the church as she did. I know Rev. Forneri travelled extensively to seek sponsors for the tiles but I don't think he ever got that far.

I have no other leads on this individual. Was Laura Secord an Ingersoll? Is there a relationship here?.

If you have additional information about these people or this family, or know of a probable source, please contact me.

...Diane Berlet

Response re Information About Thomas Fuller, Named on a St Alban's Church Tile

Brevet Major means that he was paid as a Captain but 'acting' as a Major.

The practice still exists on occasion in the Military 'acting' rank used infrequently when the job needs a particular level of authority and the incumbent is not yet ready for promotion.

Example from the U.S. would be General Custer who was a Colonel I believe but brevet Major General

...Ted Cooke