Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2014 Archive

In this issue:
- Loyalist Fashion Commentary: The Most Ridiculous Thing in the World, by Stephen Davidson
- More about New Brunswick's Forgotten Loyalists
- Loyalist Philip Huffman and His Descendants (Part Three)
- Wrecked in a Thousand Pieces: Loss of Martha by Todd Braisted
- Where in the World?
- Novel: 1812 The Land Between Flowing Waters
- From the Twittersphere and Beyond
- Additions to the Loyalist Directory
- Last Post: Ernest Joseph Sanderson, UE

Loyalist Fashion Commentary: The Most Ridiculous Thing in the World, by Stephen Davidson

Before the American Revolution, Edward Winslow and his sister Penelope had been among the elite of society in Plymouth, Massachusetts. They were not only prosperous; they were also descendants of Mayflower passengers. Not a bad pedigree. They lived in a lovely home, staged elaborate parties, and enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the best members of society.

By the end of the war, the extended Winslow family had become refugees, seeking sanctuary first in Nova Scotia, and then in the new loyalist colony of New Brunswick. While you could take the Winslows out of the upper crust, it was not so easy to remove the upper crust from the Winslows. They still had a weakness for the latest fashions and shared that information in their correspondence with each other.

On September 20, 1784, Edward Winslow was in Halifax to arrange the transportation of his seven year-old son to England to begin school. But he always found time to write to his wife, Mary. She was at home on the western shore of Nova Scotia minding the rest of the young Winslows. Rather than dwelling on the eminent departure of their son, Edward chose to fill the first half of his letter with his thoughts on the latest fashions of London. His rich descriptions give us a glimpse into the social lives of elite loyalists. What he went on to describe would hardly be practical for women trying to build homesteads in the woods along the St. Lawrence River or the settlements that hugged the Bay of Fundy shoreline

"Mentioning the word fashion at the beginning of my letter has unaccountably brought to my mind a dissertation upon the present Fashions in England which was read me from a letter from my celebrated friend Mrs. Coare and which does so much credit to the present taste that I will endeavor to give as much of it as I can recollect. She says, "The prevailing rage is to be perfectly plain. Caps are "not worn, except by elderly ladies, and feathers & all such kind of" trumpery are totally laid aside. The younger ladies wear plain, deep crowned hats. Muslin and Chintz Gowns with plain lone: muslin aprons are worn by all ladies of taste: even the first Duchesses dress in this way except at Court, and it will probably continue until winter when silks will be substituted. Hoops are entirely out of fashion."

How different is this from the fantastic figures which have been exhibited here {Halifax} this summer. Some of the females who have lately arrived at this place from London, seem to exert all their talents to daub and finify those parts which require no ornament and to expose to view such other parts as nature seems to intend that every modest woman should conceal.

An immensity of False-Tops, False Curls, monstrous Caps, Grease, Filth of various kinds, Jewels, Painted paper and trinkets, hide and deform heads of Hair that in their natural state are really beautiful. Rouge & other Dirt cover cheeks and faces that without would be tolerable, whilst the unfortunate neck and breasts remain open to the inclemency of the weather & the view of the World. The other parts of Dress are equally preposterous. A long party-colored Trail flows over a Hoop (that covers a rotundity of Hips sufficiently large without it) and sweeps along the ground behind, while the poor legs and knees are chilled with every blast which blows.

Take a woman rigged in this way, and she certainly is the most ridiculous thing in the world."

Although Edward Winslow would soon be returning to his family and their rough-hewn home, his sister Penelope remained with friends in Halifax. Women in the ridiculous gowns and make-up that Edward had described in September would no doubt have made their appearances at one of the naval ports many dancing parties. Penelope wrote that these socials were "kept up with great – violence, I would have liked to have said – but Spirit is a better word." A ball on Monday could be followed by one on Friday. The colonial elite clearly didn't like to just sit about in cold and foreboding Halifax.

On November 28, 1784, Penelope wrote to a family friend, Ward Chipman, who had just arrived in the "new world of trees and stumps" across the Bay of Fundy. Hoping to aid Chipman in recovering from "agitation and gloom", Penelope filled her letter with details of Halifax's social life.

The last "assembly" that Penelope had attended was "amazingly brilliant"; its female guests were dressed "superb beyond what the New Englanders had seen before". Among the ladies of high society was Frances Wentworth, the wife of the last loyalist governor of New Hampshire. In Penelope's opinion, the loyalist's wife "stood first in fashion and magnificence" with a gown and petticoat of "sylvan tissue trimmed with Dalian flowers and the finest blonde lace, a train of four yards long, her hair and wrist ornamented with real diamonds."

Another woman wore "a fawn-coloured satin {gown} covered with crepe, black velvet waist, pearl sprigs in her hair, {but} no feathers or flowers". The daughter of Nova Scotia's governor Parr "looked vastly well in cream-coloured satin with sable fur". Two other ladies had a "profusion of waving plumes and flowers".

Even the ballroom merited Penelope Winslow's comments. It was, she wrote, "new papered and new lamped."

All this attention to the beautiful women of Halifax might have been a source of concern for Mary Winslow as she read Edward's letter. Her loyalist husband allayed any fears she might have had with the closing of his letter. "Now I think I hear you exclaim — What the deuce can have put my husband of all men in the world into this train of writing? From sixteen years old to the present time you have literally set your Cap at no creature on earth but me. Regardless of Fashion you have only endeavored by uniform cleanliness to make yourself desirable in my eyes, but I am not contented with this. I love you so well that I am always gratified when I see other people admire you, and (if Providence ever puts it in my power) you shall be as much distinguished for the elegance of your dress as you are for your constancy and fidelity."

Now there's a man who could write a letter!

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

To read more of the Winslows' letters, see the full text at archive.org, visit https://lib.unb.ca/winslow/, or read all of their 11,000 pages at the archives of the University of New Brunswick.

More about New Brunswick's Forgotten Loyalists

Thank you for publishing the list of New Brunwick's forgotten Loyalists.

My ancestor, Mary Folkins, came from Pennsylvania, and settled in the Hampstead area of Queen's county in/around 1781, and married Peter Carr of Gagetown (listed in Esther Clark Wright's Planters and Pioneers as living there in 1767). He had land on Little Musquasch Island and Great Musquasch ( which he had an agreement with the original landowner, Philip John Livingston). He was willing to make way for the Loyalists at Gagetown and Great Musquasch Island providing he received title to his land on Little Musquash Island.(information from "the River St. John" by W.O.Raymond[1910]).

This information: some is family History lore, and some is obtained from "The Folkins Family" by William Folkins with the assistance of John R. Elliott C.G.(C) 1994.

In the Loyalist Directory is a record for Joseph Folkins Sr. (one of my Loyalist ancestors) who is the son of Mary Folkins. She and Joseph came to the Colonies from Holland or Germany (there is some discussion as from where) emigrating to Philadelphia in 1755.

She was a widow (we think, as she is always shown as Mrs. Mary Folkins). Joesph was bound out to a farmer who lived near the mouth of Scholes Kill River, where he lived until he was around 21 years of age.

His mother relocated during this time with a party of Colonists to New Brunswick. She married a man named Carr (Peter Carr) around 1782. She lived and died in the Hampstead area of New Brunswick (around 1825) and they were both buried in Slip's burying ground.

It is also noted in early family information left by Samuel Benson Folkins's "Little Red Book" (circa 1917), that Mary built with her money , the first frame house and barn on the St. John River between Hampstead and Gagetown.

Joseph immigrated in 1783 with his wife Anna (Lydecker) and family. They settled by his mother Mary for a few years, then moved to Millstream, Studholm Parish, Kings county to receive their Land Grants.

I am a descendent of the son Joseph, Jr.

We must give Stephen Davidson thanks for the tremendous research he was been doing. It has helped to answer many of the questions about the movement of the Loyalists from the North American Colonies(later USA). It is also very exciting when an ancestor is mentioned.

...Shirley (Jamieson) Youngman, Edmonton Branch

Loyalist Philip Huffman and His Descendants (Part Three)

WWI: Frederick "Fred" Huffman Baptie (1896-1970) in the PPPCLI

Loyalist descendant Frederick Huffman Baptie was born in Lakefield, Ontario on August 23, 1896. Fred was the son of George Alexander Baptie, of the Scottish Border Bapties, and Elizabeth Baptie (Huffman). Elizabeth Huffman's great grandfather was Philip Huffman (b.1754) who served in the King's Royal Regiment of New York (K.R.R.N.Y.) on behalf of King George in the American Revolution.

Fred grew up in Ontario until 1913, when he was about 17 and had finished school. Then his contractor father George and Elizabeth Baptie (Huffman) packed everything up that year and moved the family of 10 children out West. Fred Huffman and his brothers had been working for about a year, getting a decent start on things, when war was first declared in 1914.

For King and Country, Fred enlisted in the 89th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in November of 1915 at the age of 19, while his older brother Clarence enlisted with the 50th and served in the Forestry Division. Fred was transferred to the 56th in February 1916. He trained briefly in Canada, then left with the 56th on the S.S. Baltic in April of 1916, the same transport his enlisted father George travelled by. Fred and his father parted ways at the training camps. George served in England in a pioneer capacity, while Fred spent a number of months at the Canadian Training Camp at Shorncliffe in the south-east of England, a staging post for troops destined for the Western Front. Fred signed his pay over to his mother Elizabeth, in case he didn't return.

On June 6/1916 he transferred from the 56th to the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI). Fred Huffman joined his regiment in France on October 1916. Fred was issued a serge wool uniform, puttees, thick leather 'crunchies' with cleats, and went to war with a Brodie helmet. He was also issued a gas mask, 2 heavy army blankets, and a kidney shaped mess tin. On the way through their battles, the soldiers marched with the PPCLI regimental flag flying proudly, later known as the Ric-A-Dam-Doo.

Fred Baptie's first battle with his regiment was at Arras, which included Scottish divisions in the 3rd Army. They made significant advances and the PPCLI were the first ones over the top at Vimy Ridge and on Easter Monday captured Vimy as part of the attack by Canadian 'Shock Troops of the Empire'. On the Passchendaele offensive was carried out the morning of October 26, 1917. November 5 Princess Patricia heard of magnificent work done by her PPCLI troops.

Fred saw heavy action again at Fleurs De Courcelette, Ypres, and ensuing battles. The PPCLI War Diaries tell a harrowing story of the details. In the summer of 1918, after five days and four nights of constant bombing and machine gun fire, Fred was struck off duty with shell shock and dysentery, just before the war ended in November. The Battle of Amiens was his final battle. He was officially discharged on February 13, 1919. His brother Clarence who was in the Forestry Division came home in 1919 as well on one of the CPR troop ships.

After the war Fred lived with his parents for awhile. He returned to building houses and commercial buildings with his brothers and father too. Most of the Baptie men were in building/contracting. He enjoyed skiing with family out at Banff in his spare time. Fred continued building throughout the Depression, as much as was possible for the lack of capital everywhere, especially to start new builds. He then served again in the military during WWII at Currie Barracks, where the training of troops went on. The PPCLI who went overseas from there fought mainly in Sicily, Italy until the war was over.

At the end of the war, some PPCLI went through Northern Europe with the other troops, on the second stage of the 'Liberation Route', from late March to early May of 1945. Crowds came out and cheered as the Canadian soldiers passed by on their way through, right up to Emden, by the shore of the North Sea. When Currie barracks was closed by the government in the 1990's, the Princess Pats from Calgary transferred to the Regimental Headquarters at the super-base in Edmonton, Alberta.

Fred was also a pioneer in Calgary and a long-standing member of the Rosedale United Church (present day Wildrose United) with his wife Violet. Violet Baptie was a teacher and taught at several schools, including Hillhurst and Balmoral, both early Calgary sandstone schools. They volunteered at the church and Fred led a Boy Scout group. Frederick Huffman Baptie passed away in 1970 at the age of 74. His service to Canadians is recognized through his military service with the PPCLI and will not be forgotten by friends and family.

...Leigh Best UE, Bay of Quinte Branch

Wrecked in a Thousand Pieces: Loss of Martha by Todd Braisted

Todd, an Honorary Vice-President of the UELAC, manager of www.royalprovincial.com and contributor to the Journal of the American Revolution, has compiled this article which begins:

"When the Maryland Loyalists, a Provincial regiment, marched out of Philadelphia along with the rest of the British Army in June 1778, it mustered 370 officers and men, second in size only to the Queen's Rangers amongst the Loyalist units leaving the city. Five years later, after campaigns primarily against the Spanish forces invading West Florida, the corps mustered less then ninety enlisted men.[2] With preliminary articles of peace in the spring of 1783, their days as soldiers were coming to an end. And if they desired to remain living under His Majesty's government, then they would need new homes."

Todd describes the preparations to depart New York, the state of the Martha "Here for the first time I began to think of the dangers to which officers and soldiers are frequently exposed, by being hurried on board crazy old vessels, with patched sails and a thousand splicings in the riggings. The vessel we were in was thirty years old; her sails and rigging in bad order, and very unfit for equinoctial weather.", the breakup of the vessel, the trials of those who did survive and settlement in New Brunswick.

Read the article. Note also a few comments posted following, one seems to express surprise that the Loyalists [reenacting descendants today] felt they were hard done by. I guess the realization that there are two sides to every war comes more quickly to some than to others.

Coincidentally, additional information about Samuel Woodward (a Martha survivor) has been added into the Loyalist Directory this week – see below.

For additional reading, Stephen Davidson published “Loyalist Shipwreck” about the Martha, the first of three successive articles beginning on Sept 14, 2008. After uncovering more about those who survived, he authored three more articles; the first was published in Loyalist Trails 2012-#25, “The Martha's Loyalist Castaways.” You can find successive articles for each series in the Loyalist Trails archive, organized by date.

Where in the World?

Where is Loyalist Road?

To participate, submit a photo of yourself in UELAC promotional gear at a place of some note and tell us where it is. If you are a member of a branch, please indicate that as well – send to Jennifer Childs.

Novel: 1812 The Land Between Flowing Waters

By Ken Leland, Toronto. (See cover.)

This historical novel is set in the Old Northwest and the Niagara River frontier with Upper Canada during the War of 1812. In Upper Canada the Benjamins found freedom from slavery. With their white neighbours and friends, the Lockwoods, both families must defend a new homeland from impending American invasion. These families are Loyalists, living near Niagara Falls. The Babcocks are pacifist Quakers, yet they too are threatened by the coming onslaught. For Kshiwe, Kmonokwe and their children, 1812 is just another season of fear among First Nations. This Neshnabek family lives many days travel to the west, in a place settlers call Indiana. In the shadows of Brock and Tecumseh, all join in the struggle to endure.

Published by Fireship Press

ISBN-13:978-1-61179-251-5: Paperback

ISBN 978-1-61179-252-2: ebook

Available from Indigo, Amazon (Canada and US)

More about the author and the novel at www.kenlelandauthor.com.

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

• To arms - and to the pub: The War of 1812 was enough to drive Norfolk's [County ON] earliest settlers to drink
• How the Queen's worn the same shoes for 50 years. . . and has a servant called Cinders to wear them in! Trusty black patent leather slip-ons have accompanied monarch everywhere from prison visits to Diamond Jubilee pageant [lots of photos of the Queen]

Additions to the Loyalist Directory

As time permits, we add information to the Loyalist Directory. The latest additions and updates are as follows:
- Folkins Sr., Joseph – from Shirley Youngman
- Foster, Edward (of NS) – from Sandi Corbin
- Harrison, Christopher – from Ed Lester (researcher Diane Rapaport)
- Woodward, Samuel – from Laurie Tompkins

Please help us build the directory by contributing more information for it. Contact loyalist.trails@uelac.org for instructions and guidance.

Last Post: Ernest Joseph Sanderson, UE

Just after his 92nd birthday, Ernie Sanderson passed away peacefully in Palliative Care at Northumberland HillsHospital. Ernie leaves behind his wife of 61 years, Virginia (Brady) and is predeceased by his sister, E. Kathleen (Stillway). He will be cherished as a loving father to Peter (Chantal) and Patricia (Wayne) and as grandfather of Heather, Kyle and Callie. He will be remembered fondly by many friends at St. Peter's Anglican Church and especially by the Monday morning Buttermilk Boys where he was an active member.

Ernie was born in Montreal to Henry T.E. Sanderson and Lillian Alguire and was raised tenderly by his grandparents, Henry E. Sanderson and Josephine Teresa Beck. His marriage to Virginia in 1953 brought them to their first home in Two Mountains then several years later to St. Eustache. After a lengthy career of 39 years at General Motors Truck Centre in Montreal, Ernie and Virginia retired to Cobourg where they have enjoyed a very tranquil and peaceful 20 years with many close friends. A recent move to Rosewood Estates enabled Ernie to enjoy his last few months immensely.

Visitation will be held at St. Peter's Anglican Church, 240 College St., Cobourg on Friday July 4th from 2pm - 4pm. Service at St.Peter's on Saturday July 5th at 11am, followed by lunch in the church hall. Many thanks to the staff at Northumberland Hills Hospital whose determination and strength enabled Ernie to be at home for the last four weeks under Palliative Home Care. In lieu of flowers, a donation to St. Peter's Church or Northumberland Hills Hospital would be greatly appreciated. Condolences received at www.MacCoubrey.com.

Ernie was a member of Toronto Branch, as is Patricia his daughter, who also for UELAC minds the promotional and other sales items.

...Martha Hemphill, UE, Toronto Branch