Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2017 Archive

In this issue:
- Unpacking an Execution Notice (Part 1 of 3), by Stephen Davidson
- Christmas Gift: The Burdens of Loyalty: Refugee Tales from the First American Civil War
- UELAC Scholarship 2018: 90 Days to Application Deadline
- Scholarship Committee Welcomes Dr. Tim Compeau
- Scholar Update: One Woman's Mission to Organize a History Dissertation
- The Fate of the Loyalists: A Look at Their History and Impact
- N.S. History This Week: 25,000 Loyalists Land
- Battle of Minisink in New York, Nov. 7, 1779
- Comment: Battle of Machias, 1777
- JAR: Martha Washington's Pies
- The Junto: Did Squanto meet Pocahontas, and What Might they have Discussed?
- Ben Franklin's World: Smuggling and the American Revolution
- A Loyalist's Visit to the Museum of the American Revolution
- Where in the World?
- Region and Branch Bits
- From the Twittersphere and Beyond
- Queries
      + George Harper and Benjamin Babcock

Unpacking an Execution Notice (Part 1 of 3)

© Stephen Davidson, UE

In the December 21, 1782 issue of Rivington's Royal Gazette, the Loyalists of New York City read the sad news that one of their own had been hanged by New Jersey rebels. "Tilton, Ezekiel, a Loyalist -- executed December 13 at Monmouth, New Jersey, for high treason." Given that it was the tragic end to a story that many colonists had been following for five months, the item was reprinted in the first issue of 1783.

Almost too brief to be considered of much importance, the notice of Ezekiel Tilton's death is one link in a chain of events that includes vigilente executions of retaliation, bitter partisan strife, and a scandal so huge that governments in France, Great Britain and the United States argued about its resolution. The Loyalist's execution is the first piece in an historical "jigsaw puzzle". When placed in context with other 18th century documents, Tilton's death completes a forgotten picture in the gallery of Loyalist history.

Monmouth County New Jersey witnessed some of the most violent clashes between loyal Americans and their patriot neighbours. Early in the revolution, rebel committees seized loyalist property and printed the names of men they considered enemies of the United States.

Among these "traitors" were three brothers: Ezekiel and John Tilton of Middleton, and Clayton Tilton who lived in nearby Shrewsbury. By strange coincidence each brother had a family of four children. Following the loss of their property, all three Tiltons joined the New Jersey Volunteers, a Loyalist regiment. Later, the brothers served with the Associated Loyalists that had been formed by William Franklin, the last royal governor of New Jersey.

The Associated Loyalists made a very clear declaration of their mission when they formed in December 1780. "It will also be an Object of their immediate Care to put a Stop to those distinguished Cruelties with which the Colonial Loyalists are generally Treated, when they have the Misfortune of falling into the hands of the Rebels. Should these hereafter, to answer their Malignant purposes, endeavor to avail themselves of their usual distinction of Prisoners of State from Prisoners of War, by Which so many worthy Loyalists have already Suffered the most ignominious deaths, the Directors pledge themselves to the Associators to omit nothing in their power, to make the Enemy feel the just Vengeance due to such enormities."

Few details have survived to tell the tale of the Tilton brothers' service to the crown between 1776 and 1782. Had it not been for the white-hot hatred that New Jersey Loyalists had for the rebel Captain Joshua Huddy, there might have been no record of the brothers' wartime adventures at all. As it turns out, all three Tiltons were involved in one of the most notorious hangings of the American Revolution.

On April 1, 1782, patriots captured Philip White, Clayton Tilton, and Aaron White, all Loyalists from Monmouth County. Rather than executing them as traitors, their captors hoped to exchange the prisoners for three of their number that the British had incarcerated in a New York City prison.

The three patriots had been captured when 80 Loyalist soldiers attacked a rebel blockhouse at New Jersey's Toms River on March 28, 1782. Toms River was strategic for two reasons. It was the port for rebel privateers who attacked Loyalist and British vessels and was also the site for a salt works that supplied patriot troops. The village and its fort were torched as the Loyalists left with thirteen prisoners. Among the captives was Captain Joshua Huddy, the blockhouse commander, as well as Daniel Randolph and Jacob Fleming.

Huddy was infamous for taking great delight in hunting down Loyalists and having them hanged. His most noteworthy triumph was supervising the execution of Stephen Edwards for spying in 1777. Huddy had once boasted that he had "ty'd the knot and greased the rope that it might slip easily" at Edward's execution -- and that he had pulled the rope that strangled the Loyalist prisoner "hand over hand" with a rebel brigadier general.

Because loyal Americans believed that Edwards' death was based on trumped-up charges, he was seen as "the first of our brethren who fell a martyr to republican fury" -- the "Nathan Hale" of Loyalist history. Little wonder that Loyalists -- and particularly those from New Jersey -- demanded Huddy's blood. In a note that they would later pin to the rebel commander's body, members of the Associated Loyalists made their feelings quite clear: "We, the refugees having long with grief beheld the cruel murders of our brethren and finding nothing but such measures daily carrying into execution; we therefore determined not to suffer without taking vengence for the numerous cruelties."

The final nail in Huddy's coffin was the news that rebels had killed the Loyalist whom they had captured along with Clayton Tilton and Aaron White. Reports reached New York that Philip White had escaped from the prison in Freehold, New Jersey. After giving chase, the rebels broke White's arms and legs and pulled out one of his eyes before putting him to death. This account later was later found to be false, but the fact that Loyalists believed the patriots to be capable of such brutalities demonstrates the extreme violence of the civil war in New Jersey.

Philip White's two loyalist companions were still imprisoned in Freehold, but given White's violent execution, the Associated Loyalists were convinced that Clayton Tilton and Aaron White's hangings were soon to follow. A rescue attempt was impossible. So they chose Huddy as the "proper subject for retaliation". Now was the time "to make the Enemy feel the just Vengeance due to such enormities."

The Associated Loyalists' board of directors ordered Richard Lippincott to go to New York City to seize Huddy. The fact that Lippincott was a relative of the executed Stephen Edwards and a brother-in-law to Philip White made Huddy the object of a very personal vendetta. After putting Huddy in irons, Lippincott and 22 loyalists took the rebel back to New Jersey in a sloop. Among the soldiers on that vessel were Ezekiel and John Tilton, men who felt sure that their 26 year-old brother Clayton had already been executed by rebels.

The story of the three Tilton brothers will continue in next week's Loyalist Trails.

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

Christmas Gift: The Burdens of Loyalty: Refugee Tales from the First American Civil War

In the December 21, 1782 issue of Rivington's Royal Gazette, the Loyalists of New York City read the sad news that one of their own had been hanged by New Jersey rebels. "Tilton, Ezekiel, a Loyalist -- executed December 13 at Monmouth, New Jersey, for high treason." Given that it was the tragic end to a story that many colonists had been following for five months, the item was reprinted in the first issue of 1783.

Almost too brief to be considered of much importance, the notice of Ezekiel Tilton's death is one link in a chain of events that includes vigilente executions of retaliation, bitter partisan strife, and a scandal so huge that governments in France, Great Britain and the United States argued about its resolution. The Loyalist's execution is the first piece in an historical "jigsaw puzzle". When placed in context with other 18th century documents, Tilton's death completes a forgotten picture in the gallery of Loyalist history.

Monmouth County New Jersey witnessed some of the most violent clashes between loyal Americans and their patriot neighbours. Early in the revolution, rebel committees seized loyalist property and printed the names of men they considered enemies of the United States.

Among these "traitors" were three brothers: Ezekiel and John Tilton of Middleton, and Clayton Tilton who lived in nearby Shrewsbury. By strange coincidence each brother had a family of four children. Following the loss of their property, all three Tiltons joined the New Jersey Volunteers, a Loyalist regiment. Later, the brothers served with the Associated Loyalists that had been formed by William Franklin, the last royal governor of New Jersey.

The Associated Loyalists made a very clear declaration of their mission when they formed in December 1780. "It will also be an Object of their immediate Care to put a Stop to those distinguished Cruelties with which the Colonial Loyalists are generally Treated, when they have the Misfortune of falling into the hands of the Rebels. Should these hereafter, to answer their Malignant purposes, endeavor to avail themselves of their usual distinction of Prisoners of State from Prisoners of War, by Which so many worthy Loyalists have already Suffered the most ignominious deaths, the Directors pledge themselves to the Associators to omit nothing in their power, to make the Enemy feel the just Vengeance due to such enormities."

Few details have survived to tell the tale of the Tilton brothers' service to the crown between 1776 and 1782. Had it not been for the white-hot hatred that New Jersey Loyalists had for the rebel Captain Joshua Huddy, there might have been no record of the brothers' wartime adventures at all. As it turns out, all three Tiltons were involved in one of the most notorious hangings of the American Revolution.

On April 1, 1782, patriots captured Philip White, Clayton Tilton, and Aaron White, all Loyalists from Monmouth County. Rather than executing them as traitors, their captors hoped to exchange the prisoners for three of their number that the British had incarcerated in a New York City prison.

The three patriots had been captured when 80 Loyalist soldiers attacked a rebel blockhouse at New Jersey's Toms River on March 28, 1782. Toms River was strategic for two reasons. It was the port for rebel privateers who attacked Loyalist and British vessels and was also the site for a salt works that supplied patriot troops. The village and its fort were torched as the Loyalists left with thirteen prisoners. Among the captives was Captain Joshua Huddy, the blockhouse commander, as well as Daniel Randolph and Jacob Fleming.

Huddy was infamous for taking great delight in hunting down Loyalists and having them hanged. His most noteworthy triumph was supervising the execution of Stephen Edwards for spying in 1777. Huddy had once boasted that he had "ty'd the knot and greased the rope that it might slip easily" at Edward's execution -- and that he had pulled the rope that strangled the Loyalist prisoner "hand over hand" with a rebel brigadier general.

Because loyal Americans believed that Edwards' death was based on trumped-up charges, he was seen as "the first of our brethren who fell a martyr to republican fury" -- the "Nathan Hale" of Loyalist history. Little wonder that Loyalists -- and particularly those from New Jersey -- demanded Huddy's blood. In a note that they would later pin to the rebel commander's body, members of the Associated Loyalists made their feelings quite clear: "We, the refugees having long with grief beheld the cruel murders of our brethren and finding nothing but such measures daily carrying into execution; we therefore determined not to suffer without taking vengence for the numerous cruelties."

The final nail in Huddy's coffin was the news that rebels had killed the Loyalist whom they had captured along with Clayton Tilton and Aaron White. Reports reached New York that Philip White had escaped from the prison in Freehold, New Jersey. After giving chase, the rebels broke White's arms and legs and pulled out one of his eyes before putting him to death. This account later was later found to be false, but the fact that Loyalists believed the patriots to be capable of such brutalities demonstrates the extreme violence of the civil war in New Jersey.

Philip White's two loyalist companions were still imprisoned in Freehold, but given White's violent execution, the Associated Loyalists were convinced that Clayton Tilton and Aaron White's hangings were soon to follow. A rescue attempt was impossible. So they chose Huddy as the "proper subject for retaliation". Now was the time "to make the Enemy feel the just Vengeance due to such enormities."

The Associated Loyalists' board of directors ordered Richard Lippincott to go to New York City to seize Huddy. The fact that Lippincott was a relative of the executed Stephen Edwards and a brother-in-law to Philip White made Huddy the object of a very personal vendetta. After putting Huddy in irons, Lippincott and 22 loyalists took the rebel back to New Jersey in a sloop. Among the soldiers on that vessel were Ezekiel and John Tilton, men who felt sure that their 26 year-old brother Clayton had already been executed by rebels.

The story of the three Tilton brothers will continue in next week's Loyalist Trails.

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

Christmas Gift: The Burdens of Loyalty: Refugee Tales from the First American Civil War

All we want for Christmas is to hear from you!

The scholarship committee is accepting applications for 2018 with a deadline of February 28. The UELAC Loyalist Scholarship is available to Masters and PhD students who are undertaking research in the field of Loyalist history. Successful candidates receive $2500. per year for each of two years for Masters and three years for PhD students. In 2016, three post-graduate students received research funding through UELAC.

Each year we see a growing interest in the exploration of the circumstances surrounding the Loyalist experience. It is our goal to promote and reward such scholarship. Applications are available here. Questions may be directed to scholarship at uelac.org.

UELAC Scholarship 2018: 90 Days to Application Deadline

The Burdens of Loyalty recounts the tales of over one hundred loyalist refugees who were evacuated to present day New Brunswick. The rich and complex tapestry of their experiences will be explored by following the course of one refugee couple, John and Hepzibeth Lyon.

"Every now and then, a true gem crosses the path of the family researcher. A jewel that not only sparkles with new information, but also has the luster of being -- well, just -- entertaining. ... Burdens of Loyalty is an easy and entertaining book -- more personal in nature than scholarly, but within its 200+ pages, the reader will find wonderful insights to the life and troubles of a family finding itself pitted against friends and neighbors and, ultimately, ending up on the losing side of the conflict. The story of the Loyalists after the War is largely unknown. The tales of blacklisting hardships, of resettlement, of the need to begin life anew in a foreign land leave the reader with a renewed appreciation for the fortitude of our ancestors." -- Mike Lyon, president of the Lyon Families Association of America

This book is available from the New Brunswick Branch UELAC – visit their shop.

...Stephen Eric Davidson

Scholarship Committee Welcomes Dr. Tim Compeau

And now for an exciting announcement:

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Tim Compeau, Western University, Department of History to the UELAC scholarship committee. Tim is a 2007-2010 recipient of the UELAC scholarship. In 2015-16 he held a postdoctoral research position at Brock University exploring the use of augmented reality (AR) applications for public history.

Dr. Compeau currently teaches Digital Public History at the University of Western Ontario; and Global, American, and British History at Huron University College in London, Ontario.

We look forward to working with Tim and to the expertise he brings to UELAC and the scholarship committee. Welcome!

...Bobbie Schepers, UE, Scholarship Committee

Scholar Update: One Woman's Mission to Organize a History Dissertation

by Steph Walters November 20, 2017

It has been a long, but productive 5 months away from Royal Seal. From dissertation work to conferences to just about everything, I can't believe how time flew by. However, while I am currently writing my dissertation I'm going to have to backtrack a little bit to discuss something we never talk about in graduate school--at least adequately. Right before summer vacation began, I was lucky enough to receive one of George Mason University's coveted Provost Summer Fellowships. Long story short--for the first time since I was 14-years-old, I didn't have to have a summer job because GMU funded my final research trips and dissertation work. It was glorious. It's amazing how much work you can get done when you get to sleep in until 8 am, enjoy a peaceful cup of coffee, and organize your dissertation on a sunny porch without having to check your e-mail every 20 seconds. It was also nice to have back-to-back research trips and not have to worry about who might be interested in buying my kidney on the black market.

This fellowship allowed me to get so much done, and yet opened my eyes to the harsh realities of the dissertation that I hadn't quite accounted for. You see I've spent years working on this project thanks to my MA thesis. I assumed that once my research was over--which happened around June--that I would immediately start writing and voila! Committee, meet my dissertation! Well-- that is definitely not how this worked. I mean how was I supposed to be prepared for this. Any time you talk to a professor or graduate student, the whole "organization" topic gets lost somewhere between comps, archival trips, writing, and defending. No one talks about organizing or the massive amount of time or energy it takes to go from archive to writing.

Read more.

The Fate of the Loyalists: A Look at Their History and Impact

By Elwood Jones, November 11, 2017

Loyalists have been poorly treated by American historians. Gary Nash, writing in First City, Philadelphia and the Forging of Historical Memory, linked the treatment partly to the lack of archival sources in the main American museums and repositories. In simplest terms, the important archival records of Loyalists were either carried off with them to their new homes, or were destroyed by the Patriots who took over their residences.

We need to distinguish between Loyalists and Loyalist Emigres. Those who were forced to leave the Thirteen Colonies were Loyalist emigrants. The emigration of 70,000 people from the land they called home was huge by historical standards. The number was smaller than those displaced by the French Revolution, but accounted for a larger proportion of the total population. The emigration was remarkably diverse as well. It included all economic levels, large groups, such as Anglicans, several Indian nations, free Blacks, slaves and others.

Read more.

N.S. History This Week: 25,000 Loyalists Land

by Leo J. Deveau in NS History This Week (Nov. 19, 2017)

20 November, 1785: Nova Scotia Gov. John Parr (1725-1791) wrote in his letter to England that ". . . upwards of 25,000 Loyalists have already arrived in the Province, most of whom, with the exception of those who went to Shelburne, came to Halifax before they became distributed throughout the Province." Parr was later commissioned as lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia and died while in office. His body was interred in Halifax at St. Paul's Church.

22 November, 1753: Richard John Uniacke (d.1830) was born in County Cork, Ireland. He was an abolitionist, lawyer, politician and eventually attorney general of Nova Scotia. He later fought in the Eddy Rebellion (also known as the Battle of Fort Cumberland, near the eventual border between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick), which was an effort to bring the American Revolution to Nova Scotia in late 1776. Uniacke was sent as a prisoner to Halifax but through his connections, and for providing evidence for the Crown, he was released. He later stood for Catholic emancipation, founded the Charitable Irish Society, helped establish King's College and refused to legalize slavery in Nova Scotia. He advocated for the Confederation of Canada 51 years before it happened. His son, James Boyle Uniacke, would become the first premier of Nova Scotia (1848-1854), leading the first responsible government in Canada or any colony of the British Empire.

Battle of Minisink in New York, Nov. 7, 1779

The Battle of Minisink was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought at Minisink Ford, New York, on July 22, 1779. It was the only major skirmish of the Revolutionary War fought in the northern Delaware Valley. The battle was a decisive British victory, as the colonial militia was hastily assembled, ill-equipped, and inexperienced.

Brant's raid: Although British forces were largely concentrated on Manhattan Island, Joseph Brant, a Mohawk war chief and a Captain in the British Army, was sent along with his Brant's Volunteers on a quest for provisions, to gather intelligence on the Delaware in the vicinity of Minisink, and to disrupt the upcoming American Sullivan Campaign.

In July 1779, he received word that Kazimierz Pulaski's forces had moved into Pennsylvania, leaving much of the Delaware Valley undefended. Brant led his force of Loyalists and Iroquois raiders through the valley, with the goal of seizing supplies and demoralizing the colonists. The settlers were forced to flee to more populated areas, and Brant pursued them. On July 20, he reached Peenpack, which he attacked immediately. Brant ordered that "they should not kill any women or children" or Loyalists and to take prisoner any who surrendered. His raid was a crushing success and, leaving Fort Decker and the settlement in ruins, Brant and his force continued north along the Delaware River.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Comment: Battle of Machias, 1777

The Battle of Machias (1777) was referenced in the Nov. 12 issue of Loyalist Trails:

An interesting consequence of the battle is that after the Revolution other residents of "Down East Maine" felt that the residents of Machias behaved in a very supercilious attitude towards them, accusing them of not having been ardent enough in the Revolutionary cause, this despite that fact that the Royal Navy and Nova Scotia based Privateers had very much been the dominant force "Down East", even before the occupation of Castine in 1779.

Hence when Machias was captured and occupied by the Royal Navy in the summer of 1814, there was a lack of sympathy and a feeling that you've "gotten your just deserts" among many other residents of Down East Maine.

...Ed Garrett

JAR: Martha Washington's Pies

Pie is a perennial favorite at Thanksgiving, and the more varieties the better. Pie was also an eighteenth century staple, with far more types than we're familiar with today. This week we feature pie recipes from the cookbook of Martha Custis Washington, wife of America's most famous founding father. Entertain your guests with some daring cuisine from the kitchen of Mount Vernon!

• To Make a Pigeon Pie
• Humble Pie. It's a type of savory meat pie, but it may seem less appealing when one learns that "humbles" are the heart, kidneys, liver and other organs of a deer.
• Sheep's Tongue Pie: If there were sheep in the fields there were bound to be sheep dishes on the table; no part was wasted.
• Calves Foot Pie: The directions are bit sparse, leaving a lot of latitude for adaptation and experimentation.

The Junto: Did Squanto meet Pocahontas, and What Might they have Discussed?

by Dr E. M. Rose, 21 Nov. 2017

Two of the most famous Native Americans in early colonial history may well have met in London. Matoaka, nicknamed Pocahontas, who lived near the Jamestown settlement in Virginia and Tisquantum, better known as Squanto, who greeted the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts, were apparently living near other in the English capital in late 1616. Pocahontas and Squanto were both part of a small and complexly entwined commercial community of merchants, sea captains, and maritime entrepreneurs, whose ventures spanned the globe. The two Native Americans were kidnapped in America within a year of each other and eventually came to England, where they were welcomed enthusiastically. Although there is, as yet, no documentation to prove that such a meeting took place, circumstantial evidence suggests that they met when they were staying only a few hundred yards down the street from each other in the homes of men with interlocking business interests. Although the histories of Jamestown and Plymouth are usually treated as separate chapters in most narratives of American history, they were closely linked.

Read more.

Ben Franklin's World: Smuggling and the American Revolution

Fabrício Prado, Christian Koot, and Wim Klooster join us to explore the history of smuggling in the eighteenth-century Atlantic World and to investigate the connections between smuggling and the American Revolution.

In this episode our guest scholars reveal how merchants and traders conducted trade in the eighteenth-century Atlantic World; the practice of smuggling and how early Americans understood the practice; And details about the role smuggling played in the origins and progress of the American Revolution and its War for Independence.

Hear about trade, mercantilism, and smuggling; familial trade networks of the Atlantic; English and British Navigation Acts; the Anglo-Dutch rivalry; and more.

Listen to the podcast.

A Loyalist's Visit to the Museum of the American Revolution

I recently visited the newly opened Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

The museum does a decent job of telling the broad history of the Revolution, although not surprisingly it does so from a "patriot-centric" perspective. That said it entirely fails to discuss the fact that in the years leading up to the Revolution there were really 13, indeed more if you count Nova Scotia, different political Revolutions, none exactly the same.

I was surprised that in Philadelphia, which was at the center of Religious Neutrality to the Revolution there was but one display which dealt with the topic and that in not much depth at all, although it did very superficially mention the confiscation of Neutral's property by the Revolutionary Government of Pennsylvania.

Loyalism is I believe dealt with fairly, but in no depth, and without any real discussion of why people were Loyalists. That there was no mention of John Adams famous statement that the colonies were divided into thirds, was most surprising.

King George III is discussed in a very bifurcated manner, in the early galleries in a modern historiograpical manner discussing the complexities of his character and with a glancing mention of his relationship to the development of Parliamentary Democracy in Great Britain, but with a particularly good discussion of how "Representation" had come to mean two different things in the Colonies and the Mother Country.

Yet several rooms later the discussion seemed to have gone back to the historiography of the 1950's and before, with the King personally responsible for all of the problems between Great Britain and it's colonies.

So, a mixed bag – and, not surprisingly, a "patriot" perspective.

...Ed Garrett

Where in the World?

Where are Saskatchewan Branch members Gerry and Pat Adair with their five children?

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 your submission to the editor at loyalist.trails@uelac.org.

Region and Branch Bits

From the UELAC branches, news and events of interest to others.

• Established in 2006, the Vancouver Branch inaugurated the Phillip E. M. Leith Memorial Medal to be awarded annually to a person, from the Pacific Region, as recognition for their outstanding volunteer work on behalf of the association. In 2017, two have been recognized (see photos):
  • Marlene Dance, Chilliwack Branch
  • Richard Mackey, UE, Vancouver Branch
• Do you have your UELAC Vancouver Branch Pin yet? (1932; you might be late to the party!!)
• AVONMORE ON: Local author Murray Barkley officially released his latest book about his beloved Eastern Ontario hometown last weekend. Speaking of Avonmore Once Again: More Lives, Legends, Lies and Legacies is a follow-up to Barkey's popular 2006 work Speaking of Avonmore: History, Heroes, Happenings and Humour in the Life of a (Not Very) Typical Ontario Village, which sold 850 copies. Where the original volume delved into rural Avonmore's more distant past, the new 330-page book mostly records the goings-on in the community over the last 11 years, with some older photos never before published as well. Murray is a member of St. Lawrence Branch UELAC, and also sits on the UELAC Scholarship Committee.

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

• UEL's get a mention in Canada's History magazine's review of Peter Newman's book, 'Hostages to Fortune': "... But there should be no mistaking (the Loyalists') lasting contribution to Canadian history." We heartily agree!
• Today in History: Lars D.H. Hedbor @LarsDHHedbor (see his page for associated photos):
  • 25 Nov 1783 British depart New York City, defiantly leaving one last flag on a greased pole.
  • 25 Nov 1777 Marquis de Lafayette defeats larger Hessian force at Gloucester NJ in his first battlefield command.
  • 24 Nov 1775 Pennsylvania Assembly brands as public enemies all who refuse to accept provincial bills of credit.
  • 23 Nov 1783 Annapolis Maryland, becomes US capitol until June 1784.
  • 22 Nov 1777 Americans evacuate Ft. Mercer NJ, leaving Delaware River open to British all the way to Philadelphia.
  • 22 Nov 1775 Congress authorizes humanitarian aid to starving Bermuda, in exchange for salt and military supplies.
  • 21 Nov 1775 Loyalists end first siege of Ninety-Six, South-Carolina, which marked first serious conflict in SC.
  • 20 Nov 1776 Washington leads garrison fleeing Ft. Lee over "bridge that saved a nation."
  • 19 Nov 1776 Congress begs states to recruit for Continental Army in addition to their own militias.
• Townsends: A recipe for "Jugged Hare" right out of The Art of Cookery by Hannah Glasse.
  • To celebrate the release of their new CD, Rick and Hillary Wagner of Jim's Red Pants (The Music Behind Our YouTube Channel) are performing live in our store on December 9th! Come join us in person or watch the livestream on our YouTube channel!
• 18th Century dress, robe a la francaise, 1765-80
• Striking men's 18th Century matching coat, waistcoat & breeches in yellow & purple silk, 1750-65
• 18th Century 1780s gown, via National Museums Northern Ireland
• Interesting old postcard showing 'The Fort - Annapolis Royal, NS': Brian McConnell UE
• Take a look at some of the moments The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have shared together over the last 70 years.

George Harper and Benjamin Babcock

George Harper and Benjamin Babcock, both UEL descendants - were sentenced to death for stealing sheep, but I have not had success finding out when they were executed, or if their sentence was commuted.

The statement in the Kingston Chronicle 11 Sep 1830, pg 2 col 6 is "The King vs George Harpel and Benjamin Babcock, -- sheep stealing, -- sentence of Death recorded against them."

Genealogical information:

George Harper/Harpel/Harpelle (b. 1812, Kingston/Kingston Township) was the son of George Harper/Harple UE (1762-1841)

George Harpelle applied for a Land Petition on 9 Oct 1833, so his sentence must have been commuted, or maybe it was a different George Harpel.

Benjamin Babcock (b. 1812, Kingston/Kingston Township) could have been the son of Benjamin Babcock UE (1754-1829) of Ernestown, or David Babcock UE (1752-1829); both had sons named Benjamin of similar age to George. (...or could he be a grandson of Benjamin Babcock UE of Orange County, NY, who died in the war, know only through his daughter, Elizabeth's Land Petition of 2 Oct 1797?)

I found a Benjamin Babcock who lived in Bedford, Frontenac County, Ontario and died in 1898 at age 86, but I haven't figured out yet who his father was.

Any help would be appreciated.

...Dawn Horstead