Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2011 Archive

In this issue:
- New Brunswick Newspapers Remember: Part Three – by Stephen Davidson
- Charles Raymond (1788 - 1878) by George McNeillie
- Canada to Use Bicentennial to Ensure War of 1812 No Longer 'Forgotten'
- Pathways to Peace - The War of 1812 Art Cards Exhibit Opening
- Book: Sarah Bishop
- Book Review: Canada's Constitutional Monarchy
- The Tech Side: Let's Play Tag – by Wayne Scott, UE
- Loyalist Certificate Details in Loyalist Directory
- Additions to the Loyalist Directory

New Brunswick Newspapers Remember: Part Three – by Stephen Davidson

Although New Brunswick was founded by at least 15,000 loyalists, only 175 of the obituaries found in the colony's newspapers actually identified the recently deceased as being a loyalist. The last such obituary appeared in 1883.

In the 55 years between 1847 and 1896, seventy-four obituaries noted that the person who died was either a child, a grandchild or a great-grandchild of a loyalist. Being able to connect with the great epic of the loyalist exodus to New Brunswick was a point of pride for many people. In fact, in a number of obituaries, the details of the loyalist ancestor's life are greater than those of the recently departed.

1868's first obituary to note the passing of a loyalist descendant was that of a Native. Nicola Julian, a chief of the Mi'kmaq tribe, who died at 90 years of age. After the fall of New France, Mi'kmaq tribes were divided between those who were loyal to the French and those who supported the British. Nicola's father, Andrew Julian, "received from George the Third a distinguished mark of Royal approbation" for "his loyalty and attachment to the British Crown". The obituary of this Native's son is the only time that loyalist Mi'kmaq are mentioned in the New Brunswick newspapers of the 19th century.

References to loyalist ancestry become more common in the obituaries of the 1870s. James Stockton was one of five children born to Andrew Stockton and Hannah Lester, reputedly the first couple to be married in Saint John after the arrival of the loyalists. It was noted that this family had "connections in Ontario".

James Stackhouse's death notice described him as being "among the first of the children born in the Province after the arrival of the loyalists." The obituaries of George Dustan (1784-1847), Mary Flewelling (1797-1851), Daniel Ansley (1784-1878), John Ward (1784-1875) Elijah Barker (1798-1875), Elizabeth Cox (1800-1890) and Elizabeth Dole (1786-1862) described them as "coming with the loyalists" – a little wishful thinking since their parents arrived in 1783 before the dearly departed were born.

Besides the day he died and his places of birth and death, most of Charles Connell Jr.'s death notice concerns the life of his loyalist father! Referring to Connell Senior, the obituary noted, "He was one of the number of the united empire loyalists who, during the 10 or 15 years succeeding the close of the war, left the U.S. and sought new homes on lands which still acknowledged allegiance to the British Crown."

Lucy Libby's 1890 obituary is unique in that it makes reference to her Planter heritage as well as her loyalist ancestors. While her grandfather, Reginald Marpole, had been a loyalist soldier, her father, Robinson Crocker, was "living here before the coming of the loyalists".

A growing appreciation for New Brunswick's loyalist founders is evident in the October 27th, 1874 issue of the Daily Telegraph. A human-interest article took its readers on a tour of Saint John's Old Burial Ground, quoting the information on tombstones and giving the stories of those buried beneath them.

By this point in time, the Dominion of Canada's new citizens were taking a greater interest in genealogy and loyalist heritage. Distant cousins in Ontario and New Brunswick had started to share family information – and began to use similar language. In August of 1873, a Woodstock newspaper published a phrase commonly used in Ontario for the very first time. The Carleton Sentinel noted the passing of Charles Connell, the son of "one of the number of the united empire loyalists". This was the very first time in the 90 years since the arrival of the loyalists that this phrase ever appeared in an obituary. Before 1873, New Brunswickers had referred to their American ancestors simply as "the loyalists".

It would be two more years before a Saint John newspaper used the Ontario phrase. Referring to the Canadian Monthly's article about John Coffin, The Watchman described an article as coming from the pen of "a United Empire Loyalist".

Ninety-two years after the arrival of the loyalists, the editors of New Brunswick's newspapers began to sense that they were at the end of an era. On November 29, 1875, Saint John's Daily Telegraph recorded the death of Thomas Myles, "probably the oldest descendant of the loyalists in the city." In February of 1878, the Daily News reported the passing of Daniel Ansley, noting "The death of this gentleman almost severs the last link of the living actors in the early history of this Province and particularly in the City of Saint John".

In May of that year, the papers noted the passing of Charles Raymond, the last surviving child of the loyalists Silas and Sarah Raymond. With his death, "one of the few remaining links that connect the early history of the Province with the Present has been severed." In addition to a brief family history and a list of his siblings, the article notes that three generations of Charles Raymond's descendants were still alive in Woodstock, New Brunswick.

In an 1879 obituary for W.H. Robinson, the writer noted that the deceased's birth "carries us back to the early history of our city and the times of the loyalists". While a third of his death notice reviews his loyalist ancestors' accomplishments, Robinson was remembered for being the assistant commissary general at "the time of the ferment in old Lower Canada" (the War of 1812) and for being "left in military command at the time".

When John Foster died in November of 1888, his legacy was having Sir George Eulas Foster, the federal minister of finance, for his son and Seth Foster, a loyalist, for his father. Seth Foster "belonged to that loyal body of men who preferred the old flag with all of its disadvantages of removal to a settlement in a new and practically unknown country rather than remain under the jurisdiction of a hostile government".

The obituary of Thomas Storrow Brown is interesting because he is noted as failing to follow in his loyalist father's footsteps. Henry Barlow Brown was a loyalist who made St. Andrew's, New Brunswick his home for 35 years before moving his family to Vermont. Young Thomas moved north to Montreal when he was fifteen. On November 25, 1837, this son of a loyalist led Patriote forces at the Battle of Saint-Charles in the Lower Canada Rebellion. Within two hours, British troops under Lt.Col. Wetherall had attacked the Saint-Charles' barricade and overwhelmed the rebels; Thomas Storrow Brown fled to the United States. His obituary, written 51 years after his military failiure, noted that "the loyal mantle of his father, who left his home and all he possessed...rather than take up arms against King George...did not fall upon the son".

The 1894 obituary of William Francis is worthy of note. Described as "a much respected colored gentleman", Francis was the son of two Africans enslaved by the loyalist Odell and Dibblee families. He is the only second generation black New Brunswicker to appear in the obituaries of the province's newspaper. It is interesting that no one identified as a (free) Black Loyalist ever appeared in any death notices from 1787 to 1896.

Robert Brittain is one of last persons to be identified as the child of a loyalist. He died in February of 1895. "His father, James Brittain being one of the loyalists who came here from New York in 1783. He was one of the old landmarks of Carleton. He could tell you the history of every member of the old loyalists. In the days of shipbuilding there was no man in the yards more thought of than Robert Brittain. He leaves a wife, seven children, several half brothers and sisters, about 40 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren." (If only someone had written down all of Brittain's memories of the old loyalists!)

The very last child of a loyalist to be described in a New Brunswick obituary is Mrs H.V. Brown, the daughter of Henry Leonard. Her father was one of the first to settle in the Sussex area, but very little was said of Mrs Brown herself.

In next week's final article in this series, we will see how New Brunswick's loyalist heritage was preserved in the obituaries of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of its first settlers.

[Update, 24 Feb 2013: the article has been revised and expanded by Stephen Davidson]

To secure permission to reprint this article, email Stephen Davidson.

Charles Raymond (1788 - 1878) © George McNeillie

Grandfather was a sincere and humble-minded Christian. He used to hear us say our prayers when we were little, and always said his own at his bedside.

Looking back upon the days of boyhood I can hardly see how my mother could have got on at all, with the help she had, but for our Grandfather. I doubt if any of us really quite appreciated it. And how little he spent on himself! He took very great interest in all his grand-children and was perhaps especially devoted to my youngest brother Arthur. When I was at the Military School in St. John and later at the University in Fredericton I received letters from dear old grandfather, which I much appreciated, some of which are in the old cabinet at my daughter's at 92 Madison Avenue, here in Toronto [1921].

Grandfather was a well-read man, a good citizen, and a thorough gentleman of the old school. My Grandmother Raymond was named for her two grandmothers, Polly Jarvis and Sylvia Punderson, and was baptized Polly Sylvia (Beardsley).

My sister Bessie, curiously enough, was rather coolly welcomed (as my mother told me) by my Grandfather, who had an idea we had enough youngsters without her. But it was she who became his special pet in the end. He liked to have her with him, to attend to his wants and to read familiar hymns to him. At the time he passed to his rest in May, 1878, I was confined to my own couch at the old home, slowly recovering from a serious illness. But a good deal has happened since then as the pages which follow in this book will show.

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

Canada to Use Bicentennial to Ensure War of 1812 No Longer 'Forgotten'

The Canadian Press was overwhelmed by the response to the query posted in last week's Loyalist Trails ( 6 Nov. 2011). The resulting article entitled "Canada to use bicentennial to ensure War of 1812 no longer 'forgotten'" was carried by a number of news servers and newspapers across the country from Newfoundland to British Columbia. However it was first noticed in a tweet by the Hon. James Moore, Minister of Heritage who noticed the article in the Winnipeg Free Press.

While names of United Empire Loyalists are not mentioned, it was great to note the quotations of two UELAC members, George Chisholm of the Hamilton Branch and John Warburton of the Toronto Branch. John also alerted me to the different pictures used by the news agencies. For instance the Moose Jaw Times Herald used an image from the "War of 1812" and the CTV News Service used a picture taken at a War of 1812 re-enactment in the Fanshawe Conservation Area near London. In the latter photograph, John recognized fellow branch member, David Moore, as he leads the charge as the Major with the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry for the War of 1812. He is in Red with yellow in a peak cap. The comments of Robert Fraser, executive officer at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, both clarify planning for the commemoration and reflect on related events such as the Ancaster Assizes.

The following note of appreciation from Michelle McQuigge was also received this week.

I'd like to offer my sincere thanks to all who responded to my plea for descendants of War of 1812 veterans. I have rarely seen such an overwhelming display of enthusiasm. Nearly a hundred people phoned or emailed to offer anecdotes, photographs, documents and all manner of artifacts to support the story.

Due to the sheer volume of material available and the comparatively tight reporting deadline, we decided to prepare a much more general story for this Remembrance Day. The piece discusses the fact that 1812 vets have been largely overlooked in past commemorative activities and also outlines how this will change with next year's bicentennial. As those anniversary events begin to ramp up, I will very likely revisit the idea of chronicling the accounts of selected veterans and their descendants. All the information sent to me over the past few days will be kept on file, and I will reach out at some point in the coming months.

Many thanks once again for your help with this fascinating story.

All the best, Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press

...FHH

Pathways to Peace - The War of 1812 Art Cards Exhibit Opening

I previewed the Art Card Display of paintings of the War of 1812 produced by Linda Stanley for the Bicentennial Celebration of the War of 1812. This is a project of the Western Corridor Committee managed by Adrienne Horne and covers events and locations from Dundurn Castle to Middlesex County and south to Lake Erie.

The entrance to the exhibit displays the red geranium painting by Irene Smedley. It has been named the bicentennial's flower and people are encouraged to plant it. The art cards were blown up into full size posters, painting on top with description printed on bottom half. One section is devoted to tall ships and lake battles. This is an impressive show of War of 1812 events. [A correction note: I previously reported that Irene MacCrimmon would submit paintings of Burning of Dover Mills, etc., but instead she requested Irene Smedley do so.]

See a one-page overview of the exhibit (PDF).

The 2012 War of 1812 calendar was on display. and will be available at the opening for purchase. It shows 12 of the paintings in the collection. Important historical dates are marked. It is planned to produce calendars for the following years of the war, with their dates, as well.

The soft cover book of the paintings and texts, in catalogue format, is on quality paper and lists at $24.00.

The show called "Pathways to Peace" will open Saturday, November 19th, 2:00-4:00 with reception at the Woodland Cultural Centre, 184 Mohawk Street, Brantford. UEs and friends are invited and encouraged to support this bicentennial opening. Read the invitation details (PDF).

...Doris Ann Lemon. UE, Grand River Branch, Member of Western Corridor Committee

Book: Sarah Bishop

Always on the lookout for new books to add to the UELAC Books for the Young at Heart Booklist (PDF), October preparations for a teleconference with two students of a Colorado middle school lead to the discovery of the one historical fiction in their library – Sarah Bishop.

Unlike Chasing Freedom, reviewed in the November 6th issue of Loyalist Trails, Sarah Bishop has been on the bookshelves since 1980. Written by award winning Scott O'Dell, this historical fiction for junior high readers focuses on the challenges facing a fifteen year old girl in the early years of the American Revolution. In the 1770's, Sarah emigrated from West Sussex, England to Long Island with her father and brother Chad, but their life in the new country was tragically disrupted by political unrest. While Chad supported the Patriots, her father remained loyal to King George III. Sarah would lose them both during the struggle for Brooklyn Heights in the summer of 1776. Accused of arson by Captain Cunningham, British Provost, Sarah escapes through Connecticut and into the northern wilderness of Westchester County, eventually spending the winter in a cave with an albino bat and a muskrat. Readers will appreciate both the attention to appropriate historic detail and the literary twists in the telling of the story.

Two years after this book was published, the author established the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction to encourage authors to focus on historical fiction in hopes of increasing young readers' interest in the history that shaped their nation and their world. Award winning authors such as Patricia Beatty and Laurie Halse Andersen are also represented on our booklist.

Scott O'Dell. Sarah Bishop Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1980. ISBN 0-395-29185-2

...FHH

Book Review: Canada's Constitutional Monarchy

Canada's Constitutional Monarchy by Nathan Tidridge delivers on its promise to take us past the parliamentary walls of power to the underlying principles of Canadian Government, and, more specifically, the role of our Queen and her representatives in Canada. I liked it. Admittedly, The prospect of 285 pages of government statutes and founding formulas had me worried... needlessly.

My wife is a Royalist junkie. You know the sort. Cups and saucers. Books and magazines. Newspaper clippings older than I am... She absolutely loved the quality colour illustrations and photos - dozens and dozens of them, many of them "unfindable" anywhere else.

Although the story begins all the way back there with the 1215 Magna Carta, the history lesson constitutes only a modest (but interesting) minority portion of the book. Where this publication really shines is as a resource reference. You might have guessed that Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is the Colonel-in-Chief of Toronto's Queen's York Rangers, but did you know that the Countess of Wessex, the very photogenic wife of Prince Edward, Queen Elizabeth's youngest son, is the Colonel-in-Chief of our very own Lincoln and Welland Regiment?

John Fraser, Master of Massey College, has called this book "an invaluable guide to all things royal in Canada", a very appropriate caption description and a fitting final word for this review.

Tidridge, Nathan. Canada's Constitutional Monarchy. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2011-11-07 ISBN 978-1-55488-980-8

...Paul L. Bingle UE, Hamilton Branch Librarian

The Tech Side: Let's Play Tag – by Wayne Scott, UE

Do you have lots of pictures? Are they all stored on your computer? If you needed a particular one would you know exactly where to find it in a couple of minutes? Most of us have many photos, often stored in files by date. This is the most common way for computers to store photographs when they are downloaded from a digital camera.

Just having photos on your computer does not equal a quick retrieval when they are needed. This is where "Tagging" comes into play. A tag is an identifier that is placed on a picture file so that retrieval can be less tedious when using tags in doing a search.

Let's say you are following the "Rule of 3". One copy of your picture file saved from your camera in its original format in a computer file. Another copy will be stored in a different file on your computer that will be used for editing. Finally, a third copy is stored off site. Open the working file of pictures to look at, deleting ones that don't measure up to your standards, cropping out extraneous backgrounds, fixing red eye, adjusting colour balance, etc. Now is the time to add tags that identify the categories they belong in.

Among the pictures there will be some of special interest. Maybe it is a picture of the original homestead when your ancestors moved to Ontario. If you were just placing photos into folders, would this picture go into the Family folder, Old Houses folder, Favourites folder, or do you make a separate folder for this one? Some photos can be placed in more than one folder. This is where applying tags comes in handy. You can apply all of the tags that fit this photo. The process takes a bit of time initially, but saves lots of time when you are looking for the picture.

A Google search will help you locate a number of tutorials on Tagging. One in particular looks at the basics of tagging. HP, the printer people also have some tagging help.

Most of the photo editing software programs will allow photos to be tagged. Some allow for custom tags in addition to the standard ones like date, location, people, etc. We use Photoshop Elements quite often. This tutorial will show how tagging is done in a step by step process.

One of the free photo editing programs, Picasa (free download from Google), gives the user a lot of flexibility in applying tags. Once downloaded and open, select a photo to tag. In the lower right hand corner there is an "i" (for Information). Immediately to the left is the "Tag" option. By clicking tag, a new pane opens. At the top there is a box where a tag can be typed in for the picture selected. If there are a lot of pictures to tag as there will likely be when you first start, the "Quick Tags" section can be used. Quick Tags are found at the bottom of the Tag Pane. There are 10 empty tags that can be titled by names that make sense to you can be added. Then, as a picture comes up, click on the quick tags that are useful in storing and retrieving the picture. You can select one or more tags for each picture.

We have discussed "Geo Tagging" before as a handy tool for genealogists. Some new digital cameras have a GPS system built into the camera so that the exact physical location of the picture will be recorded as a tag. Handheld GPS units costing around $90.00 will give you this information that you will have to add manually to the picture as a tag.

One thing to consider is the system you are going to use for tagging. It could be a series of names or surnames, relationships like 1st cousins or 2nd cousins or Uncle Bob's family, locations or numbers, etc. It is suggested that you write this down somewhere in a file that you save with your picture files. This will make it easier for you, and perhaps a relative or someone in the future to retrieve photos from your files.

Having gone through this process, it is strongly suggested that these picture files be stored in a number of places. There is a lot of work involved in organizing photos in this manner and it would be a shame to lose everything if disaster strikes.

You can email Wayne Scott to get in touch with questions or comments.

Loyalist Certificate Details in Loyalist Directory

Due to a backlog of other work, the updates to the Loyalist Directory for those certificates issued since March of 2010 were only recently added.

As the nature of the Internet brings another level of privacy concerns, UELAC policy prevents us from posting the descendant's name without explicit approval. At this point, once a certificate has been issued, we add:

1. a new record for those Loyalists not previously included in the directory
2. "proven" to the "Status as Loyalist" to the record for those not previously proved
3. in the "proven Descendants" field, the name of te branch and date the certificate was issued as in "Kawartha 2011/10/24;"

If you have received a certificate and would like to have your name and optionally email address added, please send an email to me with your details:

1. name of ancestor as recorded in the Loyalist Directory
2. Branch name and date the certificate was issued, as listed in the Loyalist Directory
3. which level you wish to be shown as:
1. Doug Grant of Gov. Simcoe Branch on April 22, 1980
2. Doug Grant of Gov. Simcoe Branch on April 22, 1980 email Doug DOT Grant AT Insurance-Canada DOT ca
3. Doug Grant of Gov. Simcoe Branch on April 22, 1980 email doug.grant@Insurance-Canada.ca

This is the open Internet, so make sure you are comfortable including your email address before you do.

...Doug

Additions to the Loyalist Directory

As time permits, we add information to the Loyalist Directory. The latest additions and updates are as follows:
- Bessey, Jacob - from Maggie Parnall - Bessey, Robert Sr. and Robert Jr. - from Maggie Parnall - Draper, William - from Barbara Guman - Tague, Jacob - from David Clark (revised) - Walradt, Jacob - from David Clark