Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2011 Archive

In this issue:
- 1783: Peace Time's First Christmas -- by Stephen Davidson
- Oldest Loyalist: More Entries Welcome
- Celebrations at Col John Butler and Gov. Branches
- 2011 Additions made to Loyal Americans Hall of Honour
- Unidentified Loyalist Spotted in Chilliwack
- Queries
      + Response re Non-Military Loyalists, Quakers, and Indian Maidens
      + Response re Calendar List of 1812 Bicentennial Events

1783: Peace Time's First Christmas -- by Stephen Davidson

December 25, 1783 was the first peace time Christmas many loyalist children would ever remember. The memories of adult loyalists depended very much on where they were on that particular December 25th.

Christmas Eve in the Montreal of 1783 was a special occasion for Hugh Munro, a loyalist from New York's Tryon County. The Scottish native had only been in America for two years before the Revolution began. After fleeing to Canada, he served in Sir John Johnson's First Battalion for the entire course of the war. December 24, 1783 was the day that the loyalist received his discharge from service to the crown.

It was also discharge day for Simeon Sherman. The Massachusetts Bay native had established a farm in Stillwater, New York before 1776. Loyalty prompted Sherman to join Major Jessup's corps, and he served the crown throughout the Revolution. At war's end, Sherman celebrated Christmas at Yamachiche, the refugee camp at near modern day Trois Rivieres.

Henry Nase kept a diary during the Revolution, beginning with Boxing Day, 1776 -- the day that he left home to join a loyalist regiment. In 1783, the New York loyalist was once again a civilian. The prospect of a new life along New Brunswick's St. John River filled him with hope, despite twelve consecutive days of snow and a completely frozen river.

His entry for December 25, 1783 reads: "I cannot forbear mentioning the goodness of God to me; having been driven from my Native home at an early period, this being the seventh Christmas since I left my beloved Parents, yet it has pleased the Almighty to cause strangers to take notice of me, and assist me in such a manner that I am now Comfortable. Since I daily see those who have neither house nor home and scarcely nourishment or Clothing to guard them against the Attacks of this rigorous season of the year."

Further up the St. John River, a nine-year old girl name Hannah Ingraham was settling into a log cabin her loyalist father had just finished building for his family. Recounting her experiences of her first December in New Brunswick, Hannah said: "A good fire was blazing on the hearth, and mother had a big loaf of bread with us, and she boiled a kettle of water and put a good piece of butter in a pewter bowl, and we toasted the bread and all sat round the bowl to eat our breakfast that morning, and mother said, "Thank God, we are no longer in dread of having shots fired through our house. This is the sweetest meal I have tasted for many a day."

On Boxing Day of that year a homesick loyalist named Joshua Winslow wrote a letter from Quebec City. Addressed to his wife in Massachusetts, the letter gives us a very small glimpse of the Christmas customs of the day. "The Visiting Season is come on, a great practice here about Christmas and the New Year; on the return of which I congratulate my Dearest Anna and Friends with you, it being the fifth and I hope the last I shall be obliged to see the return of in a Separation from each other while we may continue upon the same Globe."

The first Christmas that loyalists spent in British North America' remaining colonies was a miserable one for most refugees. However, if you were John Graham or one of the passengers aboard the Joseph, you would have had a very different holiday experience in 1783.

John Graham's first Christmas after the Revolution would always be a memorable one. At one of the earliest loyalist compensation hearings in London, Georgia's former lieutenant-governor was officially recognized as a loyalist and given funds to cover his losses during the Revolution.

Graham had settled in Georgia thirty years earlier. After starting out in business, he eventually established his own plantations at Monteith (6,000 acres), Mulberry Grove (140 acres) and Swan River. Appraised at £27,932, the plantations were staffed by 262 enslaved Africans and comprised the second largest land holdings in Georgia.

In January of 1776, the crown made Graham Georgia's first lieutenant-governor. However, a rebel uprising compelled Graham to seek sanctuary in England. Before he left the colony, Graham placed his important papers in an iron chest and buried it for safe keeping. When he returned three years later, he discovered that all of his papers had "perished by damp". By the summer of 1782, Georgia once again became a rebel colony, and Graham was forced to flee to England.

Just three days before Christmas 1783, John Graham was recognized as "a zealous and active loyalist, carried arms and rendered service to the British Government". He was compensated for all of his financial losses. It was a Christmas present very few loyalists would receive from the compensation board in the years to come.

In November of 1783, the last of the loyalists and British forces in New York City sailed away to England and Nova Scotia. Most of the 60 passengers bound for Annapolis Royal aboard the Joseph were free Africans, members of the Black Pioneer Corps. The majority of these black loyalists were in their twenties, but passengers' ages on the Joseph's manifest ranged from seven-months to sixty-five years. Men such as Thomas Peters and Murphy Steel would later gain prominence in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone. However, it would be awhile before any of the black loyalists actually saw the shores of Nova Scotia.

Hurricane winds out on the Atlantic compelled Captain Mitchell to seek shelter in Bermuda. The Joseph's passengers and crew ended up celebrating the Christmas of 1783 amidst palm trees, pink sandy beaches, and turquoise waters!

Idyllic as it sounds, these 60 loyalists were on islands that had endured both food shortages and an outbreak of yellow fever during the Revolution. Nevertheless, the loyalists of Quebec and Nova Scotia would doubtless have traded their Christmas snowdrifts for the Black Pioneers' balmier Bermuda temperatures. By the spring of 1784, the Joseph finally arrived at its original destination, Annapolis Royal.

Quebec City, London, Bermuda or snowy New Brunswick --these were just a few of the places in which loyalists celebrated the Christmas of 1783.

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

Oldest Loyalist: More Entries Welcome

Two weeks ago, I noted the List of Oldest Loyalists, defined as those Loyalists (and in some cases family members) who reached the greatest age before they left this mortal life. Several more entries were submitted and I have a couple more yet to post. A number of you responded, with some good entries, including:

- Alexander Anderson, submitted by Kevin Wisener

- Widow Agnes Benner Lawrence, by Phyllis Hamilton and Fred Hayward

- John Smith Sr., by Claire Lincoln

- John Acorn (Eachorn)

- Samuel Nelson by Kevin Wisener

- Frederick Praught by Kevin Wisener

- John Van Iderstine, by Kevin Wisener

- Englebert Huff, by Bill Lamb

- Sampson Salter Blowers, by John and Marion Stevens

- Daniel Burritt, Sr., by Jennider Moon Labele

- Christian Wehr, by Lorraine Gosselin

- Check out the List of the Oldest Loyalists for more information on these interesting additions and and keep sending in your entries — we will start a new list for something else with the New Year.

...Doug

Celebrations at Col John Butler and Gov. Branches

To read this article with photos, click here (PDF).

Saturday, December 03, 2011, was the Christmas celebration of the Colonel John Butler Branch at Betty's Restaurant in Niagara Falls. At this well attended function three ladies were recognized for their active contribution to the Branch through the years. They were Beverley Craig, Membership Chairperson, Sylvia Bagley, Corresponding Secretary, and Marion Tait, who served as a great recruiter and did the 50-50 draws.

Recognizing people for the contributions they make is one of the important functions of our leaders. This is another way to encourage active members.

Among several UELAC members receiving their UELAC certification that day were an obviously proud and delighted father and daughter team, Gordon and Jennie Kinkley UE.

I noted that this Branch has at least two authors doing an excellent job in writing the Loyalist story: Gail Woodruff, whose recently published book was reviewed in the Fall 2011 issue of The Loyalist Gazette, wrote the Loyalists and Early Settlers on the Niagara River Parkway, and Earl Plato, who recently published Loyalist History - Niagara and Fort Erie, and introduced a soon-to-be published book about his own Loyalist ancestor, Christian James Plato UE, and his son, Peter James Plato, entitled About Rangers - Mohawk Blood. The efforts of these writers are celebrated within the Branch and elsewhere.

The Executive for 2012 were also sworn in at this luncheon.

Such enthusiasm and support encourages active members.

On Wednesday, December 07, Grietje and I attended the Christmas meeting for Governor Simcoe Branch, held at 51 Donlands Avenue in Toronto, where I was the guest speaker, talking about Captain John DeCou, eldest son of one of my Loyalist ancestors, Jacob DeCou UE, who fought in the War of 1812, was a founder of the Welland Canal, and established a series of mills at DeCew Falls and Decewsville.

I was quite impressed with the active role that several members played during the evening. Audrey Fox UE received three UELAC certificates. One member, Sandy McNamara, organized a 'Donate to Read a Book Drive' to raise money for the UELAC Scholarship Fund. This was a creative, easy and effective project taking minimal effort to accomplish with maximum results! Another member, Erin Tanner, sold tickets on donated Christmas goodies with the proceeds of the draw going to the UELAC Scholarship Fund.

The energy and good feelings created by these simple but effective ventures is an example of the kind of action that I mean when I say that Teamwork Encourages Active Members!

Grietje and I wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!!!

...Robert C. McBride, UE, UELAC President

2011 Additions made to Loyal Americans Hall of Honour

In 2003 the Bay of Quinte Branch created the "Loyal Americans Hall of Honour" to both identify and celebrate those descendants of the United Empire Loyalists who made significant achievements, either locally, nationally or internationally.

In 2011 the Branch posthumously honoured William Dempsey UE, Audrey Kirk UE and Col. Roscoe Vanderwater UE. Their brief biographies, as well as those for people previously recognized, can be found in the UELAC Honours and Recognition section.

...FHH

Unidentified Loyalist Spotted in Chilliwack

From time to time, Loyalist Trails includes photographs of members across Canada especially when they are at a UELAC event or wearing Loyalist fashion. Increasingly, internet links are supplied to take readers to the original media site. This week, Judy Scholz, Chilliwack Branch, was puzzled by a picture that appeared in the Dec. 13th edition of the Chilliwack Progress. As treasurer, she felt she knew every member of her branch. In addition, while the face may be very familiar to those in Eastern Canada, she was more curious as to what may have been on the application for "Certificate of Loyalist Lineage". I have confirmed that the surname is not to be found in the Dominion file, and yet the UE is clearly evident on the chest. Had it been a more formal image as in the fifties, there might have been an old silk hat to aid recognition of the runner. For now, the identity of the "Loyalist" is uncertain. Perhaps a L.T. reader can assist with the identification. Click here to see the photograph.

...FHH

Response re Non-Military Loyalists, Quakers, and Indian Maidens

By Richard Ripley UE, Genealogist

I completed this Loyalist research project in response to a query “Back to Hutchinson, Ellis and Barton Families” in the Loyalist Trails Newsletter, in November 2011, as submitted by Ruth Hutchinson, a daughter of Cyril John Hutchinson. Ruth's father Cyril had suggested that the family had a Loyalist connection, and also that there was an unknown marriage in the family's past, a marital link with a female Indian, who might be an Indian Princess. This marital link is suggested by certain enduring physical traits. The research has confirmed that ancestor Marmaduke Hutchinson (b. 1755) was issued a banishment order from Pennsylvania, due to his support of Loyalist political and military events. Research also found a Hutchinson marriage to an Indian maiden. Both aspects of Ruth's father's recollections have turned out to be true.

This short report is a summary of the report which I sent Ruth. Her version contains many more names, dates, details, and source records.

It is important to note that the Hutchinsons and other interconnected families in this report were members of the Society of Friends (Quakers). The Quakers were, and still are, a peace-loving religious group, which forbade military service. Marmaduke Hutchinson, Senior, does not appear to have joined a Loyalist military unit, but gave his support by more subtle means. These more subtle means were still considered traitorous, and led to banishment or penalties of property seizure, imprisonment, and even death.

While military service was unacceptable to Quakers, other means of support do seem to have been acceptable within the community. For this and other reasons, Marmaduke Hutchinson, Senior, is considered a United Empire Loyalist in this report, who may satisfy the criteria of UELAC.

One proof of this status appears when Marmaduke Hutchinson, Senior, is mentioned in Loyalists in the American Revolution, Volume 2, page 535, as follows. . . "HUTCHINSON. . . Of Pennsylvania, ISAAC, THOMAS, and MARMADUKE, of Bucks County, and JOHN, of Philadelphia County; attainted of treason, and their estates confiscated." Research shows that Isaac and Thomas appear to have somehow remained in America, but Marmaduke, perhaps the most ardent in his Loyalty, chose the Loyalist route, and came to Canada. Before and after the family's arrival in Canada, the family was Quaker.

One of Marmaduke Hutchinson UE's second great grandsons, has been meticulously proven to be Cyril John Hutchinson (13 August 1910 - 23 April 1975), the father of Ruth Hutchinson and her brothers, Robin (deceased), Steven, and Denis Hutchinson. Cyril was brought up in the Methodist faith, when his father Arthur Wesley Hutchinson (1870 -- 1915), converted to the Methodism, sometime before 1910, when the family was living in Morden, Manitoba.

Marmaduke Hutchinson, Senior, born 07 April 1755 in Windsor Twp., Middlesex, New Jersey, but living in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1777, was one of the many children of Jonathon Hutchinson of New Windsor Twp, Middlesex, Eastern Division, New Jersey. Jonathon had at least three wives, but the mother of Marmaduke and some other siblings, was Elizabeth Dosawa, a Seminole Indian, of a New Jersey tribe. The enduring and endearing Indian traits of the descendants can be traced back to Elizabeth Dosawa.

Anyone who is researching their family genealogies, should always bear in mind the suggestions and clues from their departed family members, as well as any features of health or traits which might come from unknown ancestors.

By 1778, as Loyalist sympathizers and supporters were undergoing identification, arrest, and banishment, the following decree was published...

31 October 1778 - A proclamation by the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. . .several names, including "Isaac Hutchinson, Thomas Hutchinson and Marmaduke Hutchinson, yeoman; all now or late of the township of New Britain...have severally adherred to, and knowingly and willingly aided and assisted the enemies of the State, and the United States of America, by having joined their enemies within this State. AND WHEREAS, the following named persons, inhabitants of others of the United States of America, who have real estates within this Common Wealth, that is to say...Isaac Hutchinson, Thomas Hutchinson, Marmaduke Hutchinson...(et al.) to render themselves respectively to some or one of the Justices of the Supreme Court, or of the Justices of the Peace of on of the counties within this State, on or before Tuesday the fifteenth day of December next ensuing, and also abide their legal trial for such treasons, on pain that every of them the said ... Isaac Hutchinson, Thomas Hutchinson, Marmaduke Hutchinson...nor rendering himself as aforesaid, and abiding the trial aforesaid, shall from and after the said fifteenth day of December next, stand, and be attainted of High Treason, to all intents and purposes, and shall suffer such pains and penalties, and undergo all such forfeitures, as persons attainted of High Treason ought to do. And all the faithful subjects of this State, are to take notice of this Proclamation, and govern themselves accordingly. Given by order of the Council, under the hand of the Honorable GEORGE BRYAN, Esquire, Vice President, and the seal of the State , at Philadelphia, this thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lore, one thousand, seven hundred, and seventy eight. Attested to by TIMOTHY MATLACK, Sec.

[Sources: 'The Research of Charles Robbins Hutchinson (1838-1927) on the Hutchinson Families in Central New Jersey' by Charles Robbins Hutchinson, with additions by Richard S. Hutchinson; Original found in "Colonial Records of Pennsylvania", Volume 11, by Samuel Hazard, pages 611 and 612.

Loyalist Trails readers who are familiar with the struggles in Pennsylvania at the time, will know that Timothy Matlack was a strident and thorough enemy of, identifier of, and eradicator of Loyalists and their sympathizers. In a way, modern Canada can thank Matlack for sending so many excellent persons to Canada, to help in the founding of modern Canada.

Marmaduke is listed in the Pennsylvania Blacklist Document above, which indicates he was of the Township of New Britain in Bucks County about 1778 or before. However, it has been shown that he was born not in Pennsylvania, but in Windsor Township, Middlesex, New Jersey. After the Pennsylvania banishment, Marmaduke may have fled to Crosswicks, NJ, for a time, and then northeast to Paulus Hook, NJ., where he was listed on 26 Aug 1781 as a carpenter in the Return of Employees document for the muster roll of the Engineering Department (National Archives of Canada). By the time Paulus Hook was evacuated by the British on 22 Nov 1783, Marmaduke and his family had already fled to Canada in the Spring Fleet sailing.

Marmaduke, his wife Martha, and two children sailed from New York on 27 May 1783 on one of 50 ships that left in the evacuation known as the Spring Fleet. Of the 50 ships left that day, 10 of these were destined for Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Hutchinsons arrived at Saint John as civilian refugees, rather than military loyalists, and received rations for at least 70 days provided by the British government. They probably went up the Saint John River before June 1784 and settled in Queen's County, receiving property in Colonel Spry's land grant, Lot 10 Canning, on the northeast side of the Saint John River across from Upper Gagetown. He built a home and cultivated this property, petitioning for it on 21 Jun 1786. This property appears to be the land on which is built the north end of the current Highway 2 bridge across the Saint John River.

Land grant record. . .

RS686: Index to New Brunswick Land Grants, 1784 - 1997

Name HUTCHINSON, Marmaduke, Volume B, Page 30, Grant number 105, Place Waterborough Parish, County Queens, Date 15/02/1787, Accompanying plan --No, Acres 75 - Microfilm F16302.

Another land grant record. . .

COLONEL WILLIAM SPRAY'S GRANT

Account of the Settlers, Improvements and Stock on Colonel Spray's Land on the River St. John - taken in April 1786.

[This article was published in We Lived, a Genealogical Newsletter of New Brunswick Sources, 1979-1983, Cleadie B. Barnett, Editor & Publisher]

      Lot number 10, Marmanduke Hutchinson, 8 Acres Improved, 1 Dwelling House, 1 Out House, 3 Neat Cattle, 0 Horses, 0 Sheep, 2 Hogs

First petitioned for land in Queens County in 1786.

Again, in 1796, and again in 1801. . .

HUTCHISON (sic), MARMADUKE

Marmaduke Hutchinson Jr. was born sometime in 1790, in Waterborough Parish, Queens County, New Brunswick.

By 1789, Marmaduke had moved about 40 kms north where he settled and improved lands at the mouth of Salmon River at the head of Grand Lake. It was probably here that Marmaduke met Anthony Terrill, a loyalist settler from Dutchess County, NY, who would later appear in Ontario as a neighbour of Marmaduke's daughter. Other neighbours at the head of Grand Lake were Arthur Branscombe, Roger Barton, and Jacob Reynolds, the husband of one of Marmaduke's daughters. Marmaduke was mentioned in 1795 at this same location in a petition of Anthony Terrill, and was still there in 1797 when he petitioned for a further 200 acres at his Salmon River site. Marmaduke sold his original land at Lot 10 Canning in 1800. These properties were in Waterborough Parish, Queen's County. In March 1805, Marmaduke was still a resident of the Parish, although the family may have moved a time or two within the same general area. They remained there until at least 1807.

By 1809, the Hutchinsons had moved to Prince Edward County, Ontario, for they are listed among the Quaker records there beginning at this time. Whether Marmaduke made the trip or died in New Brunswick is unknown, for, as yet, he has not been definitely identified in the Ontario records with his children. Marmaduke's daughter Dorothy married at West Lake, Ontario, in 1810, and she relocated with her husband a few years later to Murray Township near Wooler, Ontario, where they raised their family. Anthony Terrill appears as her neighbour in Murray beginning in 1816.

[source for the above two paragraphs: http://users.accesscomm.ca/aeq/hutchinso/pafg01.htm#7152, by Andrew Quackenbush, verified by other records]

Marmaduke, Jr. (1790 - 05 May 1862) married in 1820, Sarah Bowerman (1800 - 01 April 1882), where they lived in Hillier Township, Prince Edward County, Ontario, and in Marysburgh, where together they raised a family of at least eight children. Marmaduke Jr. was a farmer. One of their children was John Thomas Hutchinson (1835 -- 1923), the great grandfather of Ruth Hutchinson and her brothers.

With the death of the living patriarch, Marmaduke Hutchinson, Jr., in 1863, the ties of the family weakened somewhat, and some of the children of the large families dispersed. More contemporary religions offered alternative belief structures. Sometime in the early 1900s, John Thomas Hutchinson sought out new opportunities and good land, in the area of Morden and Lisgar, Manitoba. There, his son Arthur Wesley Hutchinson (1870 -- 1915) married Alice Marjorie Lloyd (1885 -- 1936), on 20 October 1909. Then on 13 August 1910, in Morden, Ruth's father Cyril John Hutchinson was born. Ruth Hutchinson points out, "although my father's Baptism certificate indeed states Methodist, I believe he was brought up Anglican, at least after his father, Arthur Wesley, died when my father was four years old, though have no proof at this point."

In so many of these family genealogies, there are intermarriages and connections, which weave back through time, to common roots.

The Barton and Ellis Connection

For example, John Thomas Hutchinson married a girl named Anna Ellis, in about 1865, in Prince Edward County. Anna Ellis was the daughter of Marmaduke Ellis (b. 1816) and his wife Mehitabel Barton (b. 1821). This is where another Loyalist-Quaker sub-plot unfolds. Mehitabel Barton was the daughter of Isaac Barton (1768 -- 1862) & his wife Abba A. Voak (b. c. 1799). And Isaac Barton was a son of Gilbert Barton (1734 -- 1782) of Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey. Also, Marmaduke Ellis was the son of George Ellis & Hannah Hutchinson, and Hannah Hutchinson was the daughter of Marmaduke Hutchinson, Jr. Through this marriage of second cousins, the Indian traits from Elizabeth Dosawa, entered the family again, this time through a female line, and reinforced the traits, which Ruth Hutchinson calls "the beautiful / handsome (!) Indian genes."

Needless to say, this Barton family was also Quaker. But Gilbert Barton nevertheless joined a Loyalist military unit, Captain VANDERBURGH's Company in His Majesty's Battn. of Chasseurs commanded by Lt. Col. EMMERICK. In this unit's must roll of October 27th, 1778, is found the following entry… Gilbert BARTON, enlisted 1 April 1778, deserted 17 May 1778. (source: The On-line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies). A search of the Perth Amboy MM (Quaker Meeting House), has found a note that Gilbert Barton was admonished for joining a military unit, and he was ordered to quit. However, this Gilbert Barton continued to work on behalf of the Loyalist cause, according to the following records from New Jersey. . .

PRIVATEERING AT TOMS RIVER AND VICINITY.

In the early part of 1778 Captain Peter Anderson, in a boat with sixteen men, captured the sloop "Hazard" and brought her into Toms River. She was loaded with Irish beef and pork. The Court of Admiralty to adjust his claim and that of his men, for their prize was held at Allentown, at the house of Gilbert Barton. (Gilbert was said to be supplying beef and pork to Tories (Loyalists))

Family genealogies hold many treasures. For descendants of Loyalists, those treasures include a piece of the founding of modern Canada.

Copyright Richard Ripley UE, 2011. For permission to cite the above article, please email Richard Ripley at nffgfamily@hotmail.com

Response re Calendar List of 1812 Bicentennial Events

Colleen Martin, Alex Lawrence and others have contributed web sites generally representing specific areas. I found others. There may be others as well.

www.visit1812.com — this one is very good, very inclusive, Canadian, American, British

www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/ — access to their documentary

www.toronto.ca/1812 — City of Toronto

www.1812bicentennial.com — covers southern Georgian Bay

www.westerncorridor1812.com — south western Ontario

www.discover1812.com — for the Niagara Region

www.celebrate1812.ca — for the St Lawrence region

www.warof1812.ca — also for the St Lawrence corridor

...Jo Ann Tuskin