Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2019 Archive

In this issue:
- The Good Americans Hits the Ground Running
- The Prince Who Dined with Loyalists, Part 4: The Colony of Cape Breton, by Stephen Davidson
- Addendum: Letter from Prince William to George III
- "Book of Negroes" and "Inspection Roll of Negroes" Together Again
- Rose Fortune, Black Loyalist
- Loyalist Migrations Project: Try It Out
- Guyasuta, Leader of the Seneca People
- Borealia: Wide Angles, Close Quarters: A Human History of Le Grand Dérangement
- JAR: The Constitution Counted Free Women and Children – And It Mattered
- Washington's Quill: George Washington, Genealogist: Why Didn't We Know?
- Ben Franklin's World: Washington, D.C., NMAAHC
- Where in the World?
- Region and Branch Bits
      + Nova Scotia Branch At Five
- From the Twittersphere and Beyond
- Additions to the Loyalist Directory
- Last Post: Jenette June Moore, UE

The Good Americans Hits the Ground Running

This week Boston welcomes the crew of The Good Americans as filming takes place at key Loyalist related historical sites. First up is the Old Granary Burying Ground with planned photos of remaining Loyalist gravestones and then to King's Chapel where roughly half of the seventy families who worshiped there identified as Loyalists and departed for Nova Scotia with the British military on March 17, 1776.

At the Massachusetts Historical Society attention turns to the swords of Col. William Prescott and Capt. John Linzee both present at the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. It is a story billed as 'Stranger than Fiction' and one that captures the imagination of history enthusiasts.

Loyalists will be the focus during interviews, informal chats, and discussions as filming continues at the Old State House (the seat of British power), Golden Ball Tavern (Tory ties and British spies), Elisha Jones House in Concord and more. "We look forward to this mad-dash through the Boston area's Loyalist history!" – Tad Størmer

In a few weeks time the film crew moves to Ontario with interviews planned with Peter Milliken, Kingston; Canadian figure skating champion Alaine Chartrand of Brockville; and Loyalist descendant Kayleen McAdams, celebrity sibling to Rachel McAdams.

We send our best wishes to everyone involved and contributing to the production as Størmerlige Films uses this feature-length documentary to tell the diverse, multicultural story of the Loyalists.

The Good Americans crew would love to hear more from UELAC members about your Loyalist ancestors. If you have a story to tell and are itching to share it please contact erin@stormerligeproductions.com.

The Prince Who Dined with Loyalists, Part 4: The Colony of Cape Breton

© Stephen Davidson, UE

Prince William Henry's (see drawing) last recorded meal in Shelburne was shared with two "American Royalists" in the barracks mess hall. William Dyott's diary notes that James Bruce and Stephen Skinner were "the only people tolerably decent in Shelburne".

A minister's son, Skinner served as a judge and the colonial treasurer for New Jersey before the outbreak of the revolution. He was a friend of the colony's last royal governor, William Franklin, a relationship that no doubt led to George Washington ordering his arrest in July of 1776.

Despite having had all of his property seized by Patriots and sold in an auction, Skinner maintained his commitment to the crown, fulfilling his commission to raise a loyalist company in New Jersey, becoming the brigadier-general of the New Jersey Volunteers. He was one of the infamous "Fifty-five" who had petitioned the crown for 5,000 acre grants in Nova Scotia at the end of the revolution, a circumstance that did not endear him to fellow refugees. In 1783 and 1784, Skinner was in England where he served as an agent for other Loyalists seeking compensation. He then settled in Shelburne where he became a merchant and later a member of the House of Assembly.

Prince William Henry had the Andromeda set sail for Spanish River (at the mouth of the present day Sydney River), Cape Breton. Following the revolution, Nova Scotia was divided into three colonies to make room for the influx of Loyalist refugees. Territory north of the Bay of Fundy became New Brunswick and the island of Cape Breton was made into a separate colony from the Nova Scotia mainland. As soon as the prince and his party went ashore at Spanish River, they were given a tour of a coalmine. "We all went down by the bucket into the pit, and to be sure a most infernal hole it was".

The Andromeda then weighed anchor and went 9 miles up the harbour to the new Loyalist settlement of Sydney. William Dyott, who kept a diary on his trip with the prince, recorded: "The town of Sydney consists of about fifty houses situated on the banks of Spanish River, and surrounded to the very sides of the buildings by an almost impenetrable wood".

During the prince's visit, Sydney harbour was renamed "Prince William Henry Sound". After dining with the colony's governor, William Macarmick, the prince and his party visited the home of Abraham Cuyler. Dyott's diary noted that he was "an American loyalist, and possesses a considerable property in the province of New York. He is secretary to the Government of Cape Breton. We had a good dinner, and got outrageously drunk, Prince and subject."

Cuyler had once been the mayor of Albany, New York. After being imprisoned for his Loyalist convictions, he was released to visit his sick wife and to care for his large family. Cuyler then raised a battalion of 600 men to fight alongside the British forces. The rebels' confiscation of his land prompted Cuyler to seek refuge in England in 1781.

At the end of the revolution, Cuyler settled in Quebec for a time. Seeing the potential of Cape Breton, he was able to persuade influential contacts in Britain to separate the island from Nova Scotia, creating the second Loyalist colony in what would one day become Canada. In 1784, Cuyler brought 140 Loyalists from Quebec to the island where he became a member of the colony's executive council.

Following Prince William Henry's visit, Cuyler's hopes for advancement in Cape Breton failed to come to fruition. He tried to return to life in New York, but "his course in the revolution rendered his situation uncomfortable". After an attempt to settle in Farnham Township east of Montreal failed, Cuyler moved to Montreal where he died in 1807.

Cuyler was the last Loyalist to sit across the table from Prince William Henry during his tour of Cape Breton. The prince left Sydney for the Island of St. John's (today's Prince Edward Island), but the weather "coming tempestuous and contrary winds", the Andromeda returned to Halifax, sailing into port on October 20th.

Five weeks later, Prince William Henry prepared to leave Nova Scotia, never to return. Dyott's diary is silent about that final month except to mention a party at which the prince's retinue "all got wondrous drunk" and nearly went into the harbour in a tipsy carriage. The status of the His Royal Highness' relationship with Francis Wentworth is not mentioned. Did the affair come to an end? Did the pair hope to meet again? The records are silent.

After the Andromeda set sail for Jamaica to a thunderous cannon salute from the Halifax citadel, Dyott reflected on his time with Prince William Henry. "Take him altogether, I think I never saw or heard of a finer character. He is, I will venture to say, from experience, as honourable a man as ever held a commission in the British service. He has a generous and noble spirit, and will, I am convinced, when an opportunity may offer, render an essential service to his king and country. I had the honour, I may say, of living with him for three months, and in that time one may be able to judge of a man's character."

Prince William Henry never returned to British North America. On June 26th 1830, he succeeded his brother, King George IV and was crowned King William IV. Having no legitimate heirs upon his death in 1837, the crown passed to William's niece, Princess Victoria.

Writing about the prince from the vantage point of the mid-19th century, the historian Beamish Murdoch, recalled that during Prince William Henry's time in Nova Scotia, "he interested himself sincerely in the welfare of families and individuals, and this feeling continued during his life; for long after he bade a final adieu to Halifax, his exertions and influence were often used to procure commissions, pensions or employment for persons whose parents he had known while here. He remained, in fact, the ready patron of Novascotians until his death; so that if there were some little exaggeration of eulogy or reverence given him in Halifax, his heart responded to the genuine good feeling which overflowed in his favor, and many of our people had cause to bless his memory."

For many refugees of the American Revolution – those who settled in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and England – their best memory of William Henry would always be the recollection that he had been the prince who dined with Loyalists.

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

Addendum: Letter from Prince William to George III

Written aboard HMS Prince George at sea. See the small portrait.

Prince William is writing on his birthday and is reflecting on his past and future before his arrival in America. Admiral Digby and Mr Majendie are pleased with him and the Prince is now to keep his watches regularly like a midshipman on deck, day and night. He always feel a desire to return home, but knows that his absence allows him to see the world and be on active service and also has prevented him from following the terrible course in life which the Prince of Wales has taken. Prince William's studies means he has a good sense of religion, which will keep him away from many vices. The Prince states that, by his natural disposition, he is an obstinate and perverse boy, and if it were not for his education, he would not be what he is now.

From the Royal Collection Trust, Georgian Papers Online: see details. Open the PDF to see an image of the actual letter.

"Book of Negroes" and "Inspection Roll of Negroes" Together Again

By Jessie Kratz 15 July 2019, US National Archives

As they boarded British ships evacuating New York Harbor at the end of the war in 1783, approximately 3,000 names were recorded in ledger books: the American "Inspection Roll of Negroes" and the British "Book of Negroes." The first name recorded is George Black, 35, freed by Lawrence Hartshorne on April 23, 1783, and the last on November 30, 1783, is Bettsey Mann, 5 years, Born free within the British Lines.

The ledger books are featured in the exhibition Forgotten Soldier at the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, VA. The exhibition explores the complex history of African Americans' involvement in the Revolutionary War – on both the American and British sides of the conflict.

In 1783, they probably stood open on the same table or adjoining tables on a dock in New York harbor. Today, they are being publicly displayed together for the first time since.

Read more.

Rose Fortune, Black Loyalist

A new plaque recognizes Rose's historical significance. Fortune was named a National Historic Person in January 2018.

Born into slavery, Fortune was a child when she arrived in colonial Nova Scotia in the late 1700s as part of the Black Loyalist migration.

As an adult, she started a successful baggage-carting business along Annapolis Royal's waterfront, toting goods and luggage in a wheelbarrow. That business was maintained by a grandson-in-law into the 1980s.

She also helped keep order along the docks, and is widely considered to be Canada's first female police officer – a huge feat in a time where major civil rights and feminist movements were still more than a century away.

"What respect she must have commanded from people for them to actually listen to her," said Peters.

"In a day when women didn't even have a vote, for a woman to be telling someone, especially a man, what they could and could not do – and she was telling people of all races – I think that's hugely significant." Read further; more about Rose Fortune; Government of Canada honours Rose Fortune.

Loyalist Migrations Project: Try It Out

Readers of Loyalist Trails will remember the ongoing project to map the UELAC's Loyalist Directory. The project is led by Dr. Tim Compeau of Huron University College (a former UELAC Scholarship recipient). The site is now available for readers of the Loyalist Trails as a kind of soft launch before a wider public announcement later this summer.

Of the 9,340 loyalist entries in the directory only 450 families have been plotted, so this will take several years to complete.

The UELAC provided funding for Huron's Community History Centre to hire the project's research fellow, Thomas Lang, who was indispensable in meticulously building the new dataset for the map.

Liz Sutherland, GIS Specialist at Western Libraries' Map and Data Centre provided crucial leadership, expertise, and tons of hard work developing the site.

You can explore the site at loyalistmigrations.ca.

Readers can submit feedback through links on the site and submit information to map their own loyalist ancestors.

Questions and comments can also be sent to me, Tim tcompeau@uwo.ca.

...Tim Compeau

Guyasuta, Leader of the Seneca People

Guyasuta (c.1725 - c.1794) was an important leader of the Seneca people in the second half of the eighteenth century, playing a central role in the diplomacy and warfare of that era.

Guyasuta probably served as a scout for young George Washington in 1753, though he played a role in defeating the Braddock Expedition in 1755, and sided with the French in the French and Indian War. Guyasuta was a major player in Pontiac's Rebellion – indeed, some historians once referred to that war as the Pontiac-Guyasuta War.

At the outset of the American Revolutionary War, the American revolutionaries attempted to win Guyasuta to their cause but, like most Iroquois, he sided with the British, taking part in the Battle of Oriskany. After the war, the aging Guyasuta worked to establish peaceful relations with the new United States.

Guyasuta was a maternal uncle to Cornplanter and Handsome Lake.

Read more.

Borealia: Wide Angles, Close Quarters: A Human History of Le Grand Dérangement

By Christopher Hodson, 22 July 2019

That all changed, however, during a conversation with one of my professors, an eminent early American historian with a roguish streak. "You know, if I were a young guy in your position," he said, "and I really wanted to write a career-making dissertation, I'd have a good look at the Acadians." By that point, I'd had quite a bit of practice at giving a knowing, chin-stroking nod to mask my interior cluelessness, so I executed one: "Ah, yes. The Acadians. Mmm. Indeed. So interesting." I then ran off to perform the 1999 equivalent of a Google search (Ask Jeeves?) to confirm what I suspected, but didn't rightly know: that the Acadians had been the original French settlers of what are now the Canadian Maritimes, that Anglo-Americans had done something terrible to them in the eighteenth century, and that their descendants were the Cajuns of Louisiana.

As I dug deeper, what struck me was the sheer scope of that something terrible – the grand dérangement, or great upheaval, that followed their violent expulsion from their tideland villages on the Bay of Fundy. To be sure, the Acadian story encompassed those villages, but the grand dérangement widened their experiences radically. Acadian exiles came to rest not just in Louisiana, but throughout the lands ringing the Atlantic: British North America (from Boston in the north to Charlestown in the south), Saint-Domingue (modern Haiti) and Guiana in the Caribbean, the port cities of England and Cornwall, a variety of spots in metropolitan France (the scrubby plains of Poitou, Belle-Ile-en-Mer of the coast of Brittany, seafaring towns such as Nantes, Cherbourg, and Dunkerque), and the Falkland Islands, then the southernmost European habitation on earth. The list of places Acadian refugees might have gone if certain colony-builders of the 1760s and 1770s had gotten their way is still more exotic: it included Corsica, Spain's Sierra Morena Mountains, the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, French coal mines, and Ile Kerguelen, a frigid crag some 3000 miles southeast of Africa's southernmost tip.

Read more.

JAR: The Constitution Counted Free Women and Children – And It Mattered

By Andrew M. Schocket, 25 July 2019

As adopted by the Constitutional Convention, Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution mandated that the population numbers forming the basis for calculating representation in the House of Representatives would "be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons." Contemporaries and historians have contested the meanings and consequences of the stipulation that three of every five enslaved people be counted. This formulation bolstered the House delegation size of states with considerable numbers of enslaved people and further demeaned those who suffered under slavery. We have paid much less attention to the Framers' innovation of including two other groups in addition to free white men. They also required the counting of non-Native American free women and free children when calculating representation. In doing so, the Framers tilted the House balance slightly back in favor of states with fewer enslaved people. Remarkably, no one at the time seems to have noticed the significant, lasting, practical ramifications of including white women and children, in addition to white men, when calculating each state's number of House members.

That representation at the national level would include the enumeration of white women and children was far from a foregone conclusion during the American Revolutionary period. The same summer that the Constitutional Convention deliberated in Philadelphia, in New York City the Articles of Confederation Congress passed the measure eventually known as the "Northwest Ordinance." This law established procedures for the area roughly bounded by the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and the Great Lakes to progress from unincorporated land to statehood. At least in implicit conversation with the Constitution, the law's text demonstrates the Confederation Congress's muddied thinking on whom should be counted to calculate representation, and for what purpose. On the one hand, it required that territorial governments be established when districts exceed "five thousand free male inhabitants of full age," and that there should be one elected representative "for every five hundred free male inhabitants." On the other hand, it mandated that districts could ascend to statehood upon reaching a total of "sixty thousand free inhabitants." While there is evidence that in seventeenth-century New England the term "inhabitant" may have implied "landowner," that connotation seems to have faded, with the Confederation Congress intending the term to encompass men, women and children. Thus the Confederation Congress both included and excluded free women and children when considering population for the purpose of representation.

Read more.

Washington's Quill: George Washington, Genealogist: Why Didn't We Know?

26 July 2019

Attached to a page in the first of nearly 300 red-leather-bound, near-atlas-sized folio volumes of the George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress (LOC) is a small manuscript that lays bare the foundation of 18th-century power and violence. Unfolded, the manuscript is approximately 7 ¼ by 9 ½ inches, but when folded into thirds, this lightweight rag paper presents as a neat 7- by 3-inch package. The LOC catalog describes the manuscript as a "Genealogy Chart" and dates it to 1753. But this manuscript should actually have three dates, and none of them is 1753. And this manuscript is much more than a "Genealogy Chart."

First, George Washington constructed a family tree, beginning with his great-grandparents John and Ann Pope Washington, down to his niece and nephews from his half-brother Lawrence Washington. George Washington penned this family tree between the early fall of 1748 and the fall of 1750, when he was between 16 and 18 years old. Then, on the reverse side, likely in early 1752, as he was just turning 20, he wrote "A List of Tithables," an account of the enslaved people in Fairfax County, Va., on whom the Washingtons paid a tax. Likely in the early 1790s, George Washington labeled the document, along the folded top edge, as "Genealogy of the Washington Family in Virginia."

Read more.

Ben Franklin's World: Washington, D.C., NMAAHC

Lonnie Bunch, the Founding Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History & Culture takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of how historians do history for the public.

During our exploration, Lonnie reveals why it's important for historians to reach multiple audiences with their work and how museums allow them to reach those audiences; The importance of humanizing history; And, how history and the historian's process helped Lonnie and his colleagues build the National Museum of African American History & Culture and interpret the history within it.

Listen to the podcast.

Where in the World?

Where are Linda Smith, Saskatchewan Branch, and Joyce Lidster, Assiniboine Branch?

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.

Nova Scotia Branch At Five

Nova Scotia Branch of United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada is celebrating its 5th anniversary this year!

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

• Carol Ann Davidson takes a short but memorable tour of Quebec's Eastern Townships, as reported in the Otago Daily Times, in the southeastern region of New Zealand's South Island.
• Thorold Ontario's Grenville House was built around 1856 in classical Revival style with the L-shape. It was originally built for Thomas Spinks, a native of Ireland. In 1871, John and Thomas Grenville assumed ownership. The first Grenvilles to settle in Thorold were Daniel Sorby Crenville (from England), born 1788, and his wife Anne Maria Bouman (from New Jersey, whose family were United Empire Loyalists). Anne Maria's father served with Butler's Rangers and Daniel was a gunner during the War of 1812. Daniel and Anne Maria assisted settlers in 1812 during the American invasion. Read more...
• Today in History: Some from Lars D.H. Hedbor @LarsDHHedbor (see his page for associated photos):
  • 26 Jul 1775 Continental Congress establishes Constitutional Post, forerunner to the US Postal Service.
  • 26 July 1775, British prime minister Lord North met with his cabinet in London to discuss news of the loss of Fort Ticonderoga to the American rebels. The ministers agreed to create an army of 20,000 by April 1776.
  • 25 Jul 1783 Final action of the Revolutionary War, Siege of Cuddalore, Carnatic (India), ended by peace agreement.
  • 25 July 1775, Salem sea captain John Derby submitted his expense report for carrying the Massachusetts Provincial Congress's account of the outbreak of war to London. Total expenses: £57.0.8. Read associated article about getting the news to London.
  • 24 Jul 1776 President Hancock reprimands General Schuyler over disruptive dissent in his militia ranks.
  • 23 Jul 1776 Congress declines to give Washington direction for defense of NYC, citing confidence in his judgement.
  • "As the Continental Army have unfortunately no Uniforms," Washington's general orders said on 23 July 1775, officers should wear cockades of different colors in their hats to show ranks, and sergeants & corporals epaulettes on their right shoulders.
  • 22 Jul 1779 British-allied Mohawk Chief Brant defeats forces responding to his attack in Neversink Valley, New-York.
  • July 22, 1772, the Greene brothers' suit against Lt. William Dudingston, RN, for seizing £295 in goods came to court in Rhode Island. The jury decided for the Greenes. Of course, by then Lt. Dudingston had been shot and his ship, HMS Gaspee, burned.
  • 21 Jul 1778 North-Carolina delegates sign the ratification of the Articles of Confederation.
  • 20 Jul 1780 "Mad" Anthony Wayne leads failed assault on New-Jersey blockhouse, defended by Loyalists.
  • 20 Jul 1775 Patriot forces destroy lighthouse in Boston Harbor, return in 10 days to defeat British repair team.
  • Preserving food for later may not be on your minds this summer, but in 17th century Virginia it was the only way to get food out of season. Smoking was the most common way to dry meat and other food for storage.
• Townsends
  • The Secrets Behind Ink In The 18th Century - Historical Writing Series Part 2 (Part 1 was in last week's issue)
  • Handmade Wooden Bowl On A Foot-Powered Lathe
• A Palladian style Georgian Dollhouse
• From Textile Arts Britain exhibition at Colonial Williamsburg - Those super-pointed toes of mid-18th century women's shoes!
• Pieties Quilt: Maria Cadman Hubbard included her name, her age (79), and the date (1848) alongside the biblical and secular sayings on this quilt and thereby provided clues that made it possible to locate her family almost 150 years after she had stitched her bedcover. Although the quilt had formerly been attributed to New England, it now is believed that Hubbard was a member of the Cadman family living in Austerlitz, Columbia County, New York, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
• 18th Century Woman's overdress, hand-painted cotton, c.1760-1770
• 18th Century Court Mantua, rear view showcasing the fantastic rococo style silk embroidery, 1740-1745
• 18th Century dress, rear view of Pet-en-l'air overcoat with matching petticoat, c.1770
• 18th Century men's waistcoat, silk, silver threaded & spangled, 1740's
• 18th Century men's silk waistcoat with embroidered floral springs & bullfighting scenes, 1790's
• 18th Century men's beautiful blue silk frock coat, c.1780's

Last Post: Jenette June Moore, UE

(Formerly June Kimberley and June Mihalich)

June Moore passed away peacefully on Friday, July 19, 2019 at Queens Garden LTC at the age of 94.

Mother of John Kimberley of McGrath, Alta. and Steven Oliver of Waterdown, Ont. Born January 8, 1925 in Loring Ont. to Oliver William Moore and "Nettie" (née Johanna Jenette Hummel). Sister of the late Geraldine ("Jock" Robinson) of Flesherton, brother to Hartley Moore (Sherrill Simms) of Loring, and the late Adolphus "Duff" Evers (Eva Simpson) of Ottawa. June is survived by ten grandchildren.

June was a Registered Nursing Assistant at Hamilton Civic Hospitals for over 30 years and a former member of Blessed Sacrament Church and a current member of the RHLI Women's Auxiliary. She was a proud descendent of Preserved Cooley, a United Empire Loyalist of Ancaster. She happily lived in her home on East 34th St. in Hamilton for 60 years until 2018.

It is June's wishes to thank Laura, Peter and Barbara Oliver for all their support and many visits to her at Queens Garden. Thank you to 'Hopes' who Mom adored and all the other supportive staff at Queens Garden.

Friends may visit with the family at KITCHING, STEEPE & LUDWIG FUNERAL HOME, 146 Mill St. N., Waterdown on Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. and at ST ANDREWS UNITED CHURCH, Port Loring on Thursday, July 25, 2019 from 2 p.m. until the Funeral Service begins at 2:30 p.m. Interment will follow at Port & Loring Cemetery, Port Loring.

Donations to St. Andrews United Church of Loring, or Blessed Sacrament Church of Hamilton, or to Alzheimer's Society of Canada, would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.

June's son, Steven Oliver, is also a member of the Hamilton Branch, UELAC.

...Pat Blackburn