Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2020 Archive

In this issue:
- Loyalist Trails: History for the Loyalist Era
- Zadock Wright and John Peters: Leading Loyalists through No-Man's Land, by Stephen Davidson
- How (Not) To Start A Revolution
- A Solid Source for the "Whites of Their Eyes" Tradition
- JAR: Stony Point: The Second Occupation, July - October, 1779
- JAR: Outbreak! New York, 1779
- Georgian Papers: Cutting, Slicing, Pasting: Royal Female Friendship and Domestic Craft
- 1832 Cholera Chronicle (Part 2), by Chris Raible
- Canadian History After COVID-19
- Learning the Alphabet, and More, in the 18th Century
- Where in the World?
- Region and Branch Bits
      + Review Nova Scotia Branch Meeting, Fall 2019
- From the Twittersphere and Beyond
- Additions to the Loyalist Directory
- Last Post: Barbara Colleen (Smith) Nelson, UE

Loyalist Trails: History for the Loyalist Era

During these uncertain times many people are practising various forms of self-isolation at home. As a result, there are more people using social media platforms then ever before. In fact, fully 79% of all online adults use Facebook. In order to reach out to the public, our Branch has been promoting Loyalist Trails across our social media network (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) and the response has been very positive. Loyalist descendants are keen to read about their history and heritage.

We post the Loyalist Trails logo, a link, and a brief description.

We encourage all of our Branches that have a social media presence to start promoting Loyalist Trails."

...Stephen McDonald

Editor's Note: This past weekend over two days the number of subscribers increased by 20 - thanks St Lawrence Branch. There is obviously untapped interest in the community. Thanks in advance for your help.

Zadock Wright and John Peters: Leading Loyalists through No-Man's Land

© Stephen Davidson, UE

Depending on the whim of the rebel officer who captured them, Loyalist soldiers could either be treated as prisoners of war or as traitors. If they were seen as traitors, they were often hanged.

Knowing that this was a possible fate for his Loyalist allies, Lt. General John Burgoyne ordered them to head north to safety in Canada. The British commander had just suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Patriot forces at the Second Battle of Saratoga in October of 1777. His formal surrender would follow in a matter of days. In the intervening time, 35 members of the Queen's Loyal Rangers just might be able to make it to the safety of British lines before the remainder of Burgoyne's troops became prisoners of war.

John Peters, the colonel in command of the Queen's Loyal Rangers, was anxious to escape capture by the Continental Army, but he also realized that heading north would have its own dangers. If he and his men suddenly arrived at a British outpost en route to Montreal, they might be seen as deserters from Burgoyne's army and be executed for abandoning their commanding officer. Peters wisely asked for Burgoyne to put down on paper his orders to the Loyalist soldiers.

On October 14, 1777, Peters received written permission, certifying that he "with his officers has his Excellency Lieutenant-General Burgoyne's approbation in attempting to escape through the Woods to Canada."

With this document in hand, Colonel John Peters, Major Zadock Wright, three captains (Justus Sherwood, Jeremiah French and David McFall) and 30 Rangers gathered up their things and slipped out of the British army camp. Ahead of them lay a 300-kilometre journey to Montreal in which they were just as likely to encounter hostile rebels as friendly British sympathizers. It was a trip across a no man's land that none of them were ever likely to forget.

It certainly was not what Major Zadock Wright had expected. Originally from Northfield, Massachusetts, Wright had already experienced war in the northernmost part of New England. He had fought in the Seven Years War before being granted 550 acres near Hartland, Vermont. With Britain acquiring France's North American Empire at the end of the war, Wright was looking forward to peace and prosperity. No longer would he have to fear attacks from hostile French settlers and their Indigenous allies.

Like many others on the fringes of a gradually expanding New England, Zadock Wright hoped to remain neutral at the outset of the American Revolution. His future commander, John Peters, wanted to escape the "madness of the people" as well, but had been compelled to join in the American attack on Quebec City. He deserted the rebel army and crossed over the British lines.

At some point after the Declaration of Independence, Zadock Wright was forced to abandon his family in Vermont and seek sanctuary in Canada. Labeled a Tory by his neighbours, he risked imprisonment and persecution if he remained at home.

By May of 1777, Lt. General Burgoyne appointed John Peters to raise a Loyalist regiment of rangers to assist his troops in his invasion of New York. On June 27, 1777, Peters was made the Lt-Col. Commandant of the Queen's Loyal Rangers (QLR). Next in command was Major Zadock Wright. In less than a month, over 250 Loyalist refugees joined the QLR.

The QLR was part of a force of 8,500 men under the command of Lt. General John Burgoyne. Their mission was to gain control of the Hudson River, dividing the rebellious New England colonies from the Middle Colonies, which had more Loyalists.

During the British army's long march south along Lake Champlain and the Hudson River Valley, the members of the QLR were especially valuable. They had knowledge of the land and waterways between Quebec and New York City -- and had contacts among the Loyalists of Vermont to help gain supplies and intelligence. The success of so massive a military force seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Zadock Wright and John Peters must have imagined that they would be back on their own lands under British rule in just a matter of months.

In early July, the British forces came upon the rebel stronghold of Fort Ticonderoga, situated on the New York side of Lake Champlain to the west of Vermont. Burgoyne's capture of the fort was more than a British military triumph; it was a huge morale booster for every supporter of the crown. The capture of Ticonderoga made news in England. King George III was elated when he heard of Burgoyne's victory and was convinced that the revolution was about to end in victory for the royal army.

After leaving a garrison of 900 men at Fort Ticonderoga, Burgoyne continued his march to the south and took control of Fort Edward in late July. In early September, Burgoyne's forces (including the QLR) arrived at a point just north of Saratoga, New York. On the 19th, they engaged the Continental Army under the command of General Horatio Gates, winning what became known as the Battle of Freeman's Farm.

On October 7th, Burgoyne attacked the Patriots, but lost the Battle of Bemis Heights. It was the beginning of the end for the British forces. By October 14th, it was clear that Burgoyne would have to surrender to the victorious Continental Army.

While the British and German soldiers would be treated as prisoners of war, Burgoyne had heard enough stories of persecution and execution to know that his Loyalist volunteers would in all likelihood be hanged as traitors to America. And so began the flight of 35 members of the Queen's Loyal Rangers across an American no-man's land.**

John Peters, Zadock Wright and their men slipped into the woods on the night of October 14th. They walked in single file, hoping that that would draw less attention to their movements. Within just a few miles of the British camp, the Loyalists met a party of rebels who questioned their presence and politics. Without British or German accents to indicate their side in the Battle of Saratoga, the Loyalists could pass themselves off as Patriots if they kept their wits about them.

Peters explained that he and his men were chasing after "some "Tories who have fled from Burgoyne's camp". It sounded plausible enough. But then the Patriots asked for a countersign and the name of the fugitives' commander.

Boldly, Peters said that the countersign was "they might fire as soon as they pleased" and the commander was "Col. Peters and 1,800 men". Saying this, Peter and his men dashed into the woods.

It was too dark to chase after the Loyalist fugitives, so the rebels waited until the morning, sending 100 soldiers into the forest. But by then, the remnant of the Queen's Loyal Rangers had safely made it to the other side of the Hudson River above Fort Edward. They had come upon a Loyalist who ferried them away in his canoe -- their second stroke of luck that day. Their rescuer then supplied the men with bear meat, dried moose and Indian corn.

On October 17th --the date of Lt. General Burgoyne's official surrender to the Continental Army--- Peters, Wright and their men were at the British garrison south of Lake George.

As they had feared, Major George Irvine, the commander of the garrison, suspected that the Loyalist fugitives must be deserters from Burgoyne's army. He gave them a cold reception, treating them roughly until Peters produced his written permission from Burgoyne. Immediately, the major of the 47th Regiment of Foot treated the QLR member "with great kindness and humility". Irvine gave them food and boats to see them on their way to Diamond Island, a garrison at the southern end of Lake George.

After their five-mile journey, the Loyalist soldiers were given sanctuary by Captain Thomas Aubrey. They stayed at Diamond Island for a number of days while John Peters was put to bed due to "fever and ague".

When their colonel recovered, the men crossed Lake George and marched north for five days, finding refuge at Fort Ticonderoga, where just three months earlier they had celebrated a major victory over the Patriots. The fort was under the command of the 53rd Regiment of Foot's General Powell, who had been left in charge back in July.

It seemed best for the Loyalist fugitives to remain at the fort rather than venturing on to Montreal by themselves. However, when word of the official surrender of the British army at Saratoga reached Fort Ticonderoga, General Powell decided to abandon the fort. Just before the 53rd Regiment of Foot and the 35 members of the Queen's Loyal Rangers started their long trek to Montreal on November 8th, they torched Fort Ticonderoga, burning it to the ground. Within 16 days, they had safely returned to Canada.

Colonel John Peters and Major Zadock Wright had succeeded in crossing no-man's land. However, the American Revolution -- as well as the two Loyalists' further adventures-- were far from over.

Next week's Loyalist Trails will tell the further tales of the two senior officers of the Queen's Loyalist Rangers.

= = =

** The known names of the other members of the Queen's Loyal Rangers who accompanied Peters and Wright are: James Pennock, Samuel Pennock, Jesse Pennock, Aaron Pennock, Peter Pennock, William Pennock, Oliver Pennock, Jeremiah Pennock, Alexander Pennock, Isaac Baldwin, Ezekiel Parish, Isaac Corwin, Elihu Northrop, Joseph Judge, Samuel Bliss, James Mun, Adenijah Fitch, Ely Roberts, Heman [Herman?] Brown, Peter Thomas, and John Peters Junior.

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

How (Not) To Start A Revolution

By Dan Sousa 17 Aprl 2020 - Historic Deerfield

On a fateful spring morning on Lexington's town green in 1775, members of the local minute company confronted a contingent of British regular infantry on their way to Concord to destroy militia military supplies. The British soldiers opened fire when a shot was fired from an unknown source; eight militiamen died. Later that day, colonial militia and British forces opposed one another again, this time at Concord's North Bridge. The colonists succeeded in pushing the British back from the bridge and the regulars began a long retreat back to Boston, under virtually constant fire the entire way. These clashes marked the beginning of an eight-year war with Great Britain. Today, Americans commemorate April 19, 1775 as the day the American Revolution began, and Patriots' Day is a state holiday in Massachusetts and Maine.

Late in 1835, Epaphras Hoyt (1765-1850) of Deerfield, Massachusetts, penned an interesting critique of the famous actions at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Born and raised in the "old Indian House," Epaphras displayed a keen interest in military history and affairs throughout his life. He attained the rank of major general of the Massachusetts militia, published two works on military science, and taught a course on the "Theoretical and Practical Art of War" at Deerfield Academy.

Though the militia succeeded in pushing the British army back to Boston, Hoyt considered the deadly encounter at Lexington to have been entirely avoidable.

Read more.

A Solid Source for the "Whites of Their Eyes" Tradition

J.L. Bell 15 February 2014

"Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes" is the most famous quotation arising from the Battle of Bunker Hill. Authors have debated which American officer said it, which has been another way of debating who was in command. In recent decades most historians have treated those words as a legend, or at least a tradition that can't be verified.

This month I got lucky in some digital databases and found an earlier source for the "whites of their eyes" tradition, with a clear chain of transmission from the battlefield.

That doesn't mean Putnam coined the "white of their eyes" phrase, but it's more likely that he said those words at Bunker Hill, just as a few veterans reported later.

Read more.

JAR: Stony Point: The Second Occupation, July - October, 1779

By Michael J. F. Sheehan 21 April 2020

Gen. George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, arrived at the American defenses at West Point "very much fatigued." He had ridden one his two beloved mounts, either Nelson or Blueskin, nearly fourteen miles over rugged hills. It was late afternoon on July 19, 1779, and Washington was just getting settled after "returning from Stony Point," as he informed Gen. (and Governor of New York) George Clinton. The previous day, the Americans had "dismantled the works at Stony Point . . . and last night destroyed them as far as circumstances would permit;" days earlier, the Continental Army had taken possession of Stony Point, a rocky peninsula jutting out from the west shore of the Hudson River. The British had landed there and directly across the river at Verplanck Point on June 1 and fortified both points. After nearly three weeks of deliberation and planning, Washington and one of his fightingest officers, Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne, came up with and brilliantly executed an assault on Stony Point in the wee hours of July 16. From the assault to Washington's departure (he had arrived on July 17), the dead were buried, the prisoners marched off, and goods carried away, while the developing assault on Verplanck crumbled in the face of advancing British forces. Col. Richard Butler, third in command of the Corps of Light Infantry, the unit that assaulted Stony Point, reported to Washington that hours after the commander-in-chief had departed, the Americans also left, only to see right behind them the British land on Stony Point after a brief bombardment to "Cover their landing . . . they took immediate possession of the Point . . . & Confined themselves within their Sentries."

British Brig. Gen. Thomas Sterling landed his brigade, consisting of the 42nd Royal Highland, the 63rd, and 64th Regiments of Foot, for the night of the July 19. In the next few weeks, they would begin construction of a new fort on the point with a very different design from the original. The Americans, however, did not let this go unnoticed. From headquarters at West Point, Washington wrote to two of his officers on July 25. He asked Col. Richard Butler to gather information on the British, to be as "particular & critical" as he could in "ascertaining the several Works the Enemy are carrying on---their number and nature---whether inclosed or otherwise." Numbers of tents were important too, he directed, as that would help form "an estimate of their force." He asked twenty-three-year-old Maj. "Light Horse" Henry Lee, who commanded his own legion, to "obtain the most precise ideas of the situation at Stony Point . . . I wish to know upon what plan the enemy are now constructing their works . . . what is the strength of the garrison, the corps that compose that strength the number and sizes of cannon, [and who] commands." Gathering detailed intelligence was not something new to Washington, and in this case he had pressing reasons for it, for on the following day, he summoned a council of his general officers. The commander-in-chief requested that his generals reply to him in writing with their opinions on the following question: Do we attack the British at Stony Point again?

Read more.

JAR: Outbreak! New York, 1779

By Don N. Hagist 22 April 2020

"The number of sick increasing every day, in all the different Camps of the army," wrote Capt. John Peebles in his diary on September 5, 1779. Encamped on Manhattan Island eight miles north of the city of New York, at the time rural farmland, the army was beginning to suffer from the consequences of an unusually rainy and windless summer. On August 24 Peebles, who commanded the grenadier company of the 42nd Regiment of Foot, part of the army's grenadier battalion, noted that the light infantry battalion was moving to Long Island from the "wet swampy ground" they had been camped upon because men in the battalion were getting sick. Seven days later he wrote, "The Men growing very sickly within these few days, a general complaint over the whole army, they are mostly taken with headache & universal pain a chill & feverishness, which for the most part turns into a quotidian or tertian intermittent, & some few are rather with the flux." Twelve men in his one-hundred-man company had fallen ill, six within the last twenty-four hours. It was only the beginning.

Techniques for keeping an army healthy were well-known to the British army in America. A century of corporate knowledge was reinforced by a host of textbooks that aggregated experience from Europe's professional armies. For the most part, officers knew how to choose ground for encampments and cantonments based on prevailing winds and sunlight as well as tactical considerations, and the importance of things like drainage, refreshing the straw used for tent and barrack bedding, burying offal and waste well away from habitations, frequently relocating "necessary houses" (latrines), and providing adequate ventilation in hospitals and barracks, was well known. When the weather and location permitted, soldiers bathed regularly in rivers or the sea. It was rare for sickness to ravage the British armies in Canada and New York. But the autumn of 1779 was different.

Read more.

Georgian Papers: Cutting, Slicing, Pasting: Royal Female Friendship and Domestic Craft

By Dr Madeleine Pelling

For elite and middling women in the eighteenth century, handicrafts including embroidery, decoupage, wood-cutting, turning and spinning were important activities in performing female sociability and manifesting rustic and picturesque ideals. The Georgian Papers Programme has recently digitized a key, though overlooked, album of cut-paper designs created by the artist and Bluestocking Mary Delany (1700-1788) and gifted to Queen Charlotte in 1781. This artefact, which covers twenty pages forming blue grounds and contains one hundred and fourteen individual paper cut designs from intricate and realistic botanical representations to more abstract decorative motifs, signals the value of such works as the material spaces of female sociability. Despite the wealth of scholarly attention paid to Delany and her craftwork, the album has been largely overlooked in discussions of the social function and artistic value of her work. In 2017, it formed the basis of my research as part of a GPP fellowship at the Windsor. I presented this research at the 'Collage, Montage, Assemblage: Collected and Composite Forms, 1700 -- Present' conference at University of Edinburgh in April 2018.

Read more.

1832 Cholera Chronicle (Part 2), by Chris Raible

By Chris Raible

Not that they had not been warned. As cholera spread through Europe, the disease had been thoroughly studied and reported on. A British Central Board of Health bulletin had been reprinted in Halifax "for the use of Magistrates, Clergymen, Local Boards of Health, Members of the Medical Profession, and a few private friends," in the earnest hope "that every Person into whose Hands this copy may come will preserve it, and give its contents every possible circulation." The leaflet described the "leading preliminary Symptoms" of the disease: "Diarrhea, Spasms, Apoplectic Vertigo with Nausea, imperfect vomiting, or various Combinations of these Symptoms." It advised treatment with opium, astringents, heat, bleeding by leeches, "cupping along the Course of the Spine," and "perhaps bilious purging." It also outlined the steps to be taken when an individual has been attacked: "the Room or Apartment... from which he may have been removed should be purified by scrubbing, lime-washing, free Ventilation and Fumigation by heated Sulphuric Acid and Common Salt, with Black Oxyde of Manganese, or the same Acid with Nitre' or when these Materials cannot be obtained, by strong vinegar thrown upon heated Bricks. The Bed, Bedding, and Clothes should be immersed in Water, washed with Soap, and afterwards fumigated..."

Upper Canada's Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Colborne, acted with dispatch. On Saturday, June 16, he called together the magistrates of the community "to take such precautionary measures as may be necessary to prevent the spread of Cholera." York town records reveal that a Board of Health was quickly appointed. It met on Thursday, June 21, and immediately designated health wardens to visit to every house in town.

The inspection report for the 7th ward was no doubt typical. "New Street:... yard rather dirty dung &c wants removing.... Barns & under them... stagnant water which might be easily drawn off.... Tavern Keepers house in bad order very dirty wants white washing & repairs very much, yard & premises in a most shameful condition.... Tenant complains that his landlord will not make any repairs.... Dutchess Street:.. a privy shelter overflowing & causes much offence & inconvenience to the neighbours.... Water course on both sides of the Street wants repairs.... Slaughter House [an] offensive smell proceeds from it, there being blood and other stuff near it.... frame House owned by S Jarvis a very dirty privy overflowing.... Duke Street: House owned by George Duggan in a very dirty state, no less that 5 families in the House, yard of which is in a dirty state Dung &c about it. In William Campbells yard there is a pile of rotten dung -- a very dirty privy overflowing or very nearly so & very offensive.... George Street:.. yard large pile of rotten dung.... a drain wants cleaning out.... deal of dirty stagnant washing water.... In Duke Street from Bank to New Street the water courses want repairs... stagnant water, a dung heap, & draining running across pathway into street.... yard in a very dirty state a large quantity of dung stagnant water &c &c..."

The Board of Health agreed to issue daily reports. Innkeepers and persons keeping lodgers were instructed "on Monday and Thursday of each week to report... the number of [their] boarders... and whether there are any sick amongst them." Health wardens were "strongly enjoined to impress upon the several householders... the necessity of immediately calling in the assistance of a medical practitioner in the event of sickness." To this end, the Board distributed a leaflet listing the fifteen "Medical Practitioners in the Town... for the information of the public."

Medical officers concluded that the main danger to the town was from immigrants. The next day, Friday, June 22, the Health Officer reported he had discovered cholera on visiting the steamship Great Britain "on her coming last evening into port." The Health Board quickly decided "to purchase and fit up [a] wagon... for removing sick patients to the hospital and that it be stationed at or near the Court House with horse and rivers. Also that a proper carriage... be stationed as near as possible to the place where ships come into port for a like purpose..." The Board also recommended that the Health Officer receive a substantial raise in salary.

One problem, as even Lesslie noted, was that the "Physicians in Town are not agreed... neither were they in Quebec..." Regarding cholera, physicians everywhere disagreed. They differed about its cause and about its cure. In general, there were two schools of thought. The miasmists argued that cholera came with bad air, such as that which hovered over marshes, stagnant waters, and refuse areas. York's muddy stagnant pools and mists over the Don river marshes were thought to be ideal carriers. The contagionists, on the other hand, were convinced that the disease was passed on through human contacts. They thought the best prevention was quarantine, isolating cholera victims from the rest of the population.

There were other, more bizarre explanations. Canadian medical historian, C. M. Godfrey, in his 1968 study of Upper Canada's cholera epidemics, summarized the several schools of thought: those who ascribed cholera to the influence of the sun and moon, those who believed an approaching comet was effecting the electricity of the earth, those who suggested that earthquakes exhaled the malady from the bowels of the earth, those who blamed poisonous air (malaria) formed by the decomposition of dead fish or animals, those who saw evidence of changes in the gasses of the earth's atmosphere, and those who speculated that the disease was carried by "poisonous, invisible, aerial insects, of the same or similar habits with the gnat."

(Continued next week)

Canadian History After COVID-19

By Denis McKim 20 April 2020

Thomas Paine likened the American Revolution to the deluge. In much the same way that God had hit the "reset button" on history itself through the flood recounted in Genesis, the United States had initiated a new epoch by revolting against British rule and launching what Paine hoped would become an egalitarian republic.

In less extravagant terms, contemporary commentators have conjectured that the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic -- mainly evident in widespread death and illness, but also apparent in acute social dislocation and economic chaos -- will trigger profound societal change. That these observers have done so is understandable, as major outbreaks of disease have been catalysts for cultural transformations throughout history.

To what extent will the present pandemic and its aftermath influence Canadian historiography? If scholarly responses to major global developments in the past are any indication, it seems probable that COVID-19's impact in this area will be significant. For, turbulent events in previous eras have altered academic approaches to Canada's past, albeit in diverse ways. For instance, the nation's acquisition of greater autonomy within the British Commonwealth as a result of the Great War contributed to an emphasis in the interwar era on Canada's constitutional evolution, as seen in the writings of Chester Martin and O.D. Skelton. Also, mid-twentieth-century anxieties regarding fascist and communist totalitarianisms, and corresponding concerns revolving around the supposed fragility of liberal institutions and democratic values, conditioned -- alongside other factors, admittedly -- postwar studies by Frank Underhill and A.R.M. Lower. In view of the large volume of sweeping changes associated with COVID-19, it is likely that the pandemic will change Canadian historiography. But how?

Read more.

Learning the Alphabet, and More, in the 18th Century

Learning the alphabet in the 18th century the New England way, using a 1780s edition of "The New England Primer"

ABCs – From the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.

Have you recently found yourself thrust into the role of homeschool teacher? Maybe you have a small child learning her ABC's or a youngster practicing her penmanship.

Eighteenth-century children began to learn to read as young as 4 or 5, aided by tools such as this late 18th-century hornbook in the collection of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Small hands could easily grasp this 4 inch x 1 ¾ inch bone paddle to study the engraved letters---uppercase on one side, lowercase on the other. These hornbooks taught children the alphabet and familiarized them with printed letters, not script or cursive---an important skill for children to grasp so they could continue their instruction with the printed word, including the Bible.

Study the upper class letters---the "u" and the "v" seem to have switched places. This could have been a mistake, however, until the 19th-century printers often viewed the letters "u" and "v" as interchangeable.

Read more.

A game of whist

In 1785 Abigail Adams wrote that while her husband was teaching their son geometry "we are often called upon to relieve their brains by a game of whist." Learn that card game with directions from The AmRevMuseum.

Read more.

Where in the World?

Where are David Hongisto, Barbara Hongisto, Pat Sadler Brown, and Suzanne Davidson?

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.

Review Nova Scotia Branch Meeting, Fall 2019

I recently created a short video of the Nova Scotia Branch meeting held in the Fall of 2019 in Windsor at the West Hants Historical Society. The meeting was very well attended.

The video shows inside the Museum of the West Hants Historical Society where we held our meeting, as well as a tour of the upstairs of the museum and then presentation by Kel Hancock, President of the WHHS.

Watch the video.

...Brian McConnell UE, President, NS Branch

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

• This weekend under sunny skies and mild weather I had a wonderful visit to View a short video of my visit - I hope you find it interesting. Brian McConnell UE.  
• The Queen and Prince Philip send condolences to Canadians over Nova Scotia shooting rampage. Her Majesty has visited Nova Scotia many times, and was last there in 2010 to celebrate the Royal Canadian Navy's centenary. The Royal Family itself has a long history of visiting Nova Scotia -- Prince Charles and Princess Diana travelled to the province for the bicentennial of the arrival of United Empire Loyalists there in 1783. The Loyalists were Americans who resettled in British North America during or following the American Revolution of 1776. Read the letter of condolences, and the article.
• This Week in History
  • 21 Apr 1775 Governor Dunmore orders Royal Marines to take gunpowder from magazine in Williamsburg, Virginia.
  • 19 Apr 1775 From Lexington, Massachusetts, British retreat under fire to Concord--the "
  • 25 Apr 1775 Patriots in Baltimore seize military supplies.
  • 18 Apr 1776 The Isabella, carrying British troops, is met by American militiamen at Cape Fear, North-Carolina.
  • 20 Apr 1776 Germany & Britain arrange to have more troops sent from Germany to America, including 670 infantrymen.
  • 23 Apr 1776 Congress resolves that an expedition should be undertaken against Detroit, recently taken by British.
  • 20 Apr 1777 New-York adopts a new constitution, incorporating the Declaration of Independence and a strong Governor.
  • 22 Apr 1778 American John Paul Jones attacks British Isles directly, burning 3 ships and spiking guns at 2 forts.
  • 24 Apr 1781 Petersburg, Virginia attacked by traitor Benedict Arnold & British Gen. Philips.
  • 25 Apr 1791 President Washington spent the day in Wilmington. GW learned about commerce on the Cape Fear River & danced that evening at Assembly Hall on Front Street at a ball in his honor. 62 ladies attended. Who's counting? Apparently GW. He put 62 in his diary
• Townsend's
  • Middle Eastern Influence In Early English Cooking - Mutton Kebabs
  • Buffalo River Ride! - Cresswell At It Again!
•  Clothing and Related:
  • Stamped metal button covers were common from the early 18th to early 19th century. They were often stamped with patterns meant to look like thread-covered buttons, like the smaller one shown here. These copper alloy examples recovered during the 1990s Brook Farm excavations would have been attached to bone or wood button blanks before being sewn onto a garment.
  • Like the prow of a silken boat, the structure of 18th century stays are laid bare here, captured in a butterfly pose of soft yellow silk decorated with a metal #lace trim. The seams and tabs are ready to fold onwards and contour around the torso
  • Sack Back: Crewel embroidered muslin w/beautiful cypress trees, completed in chain stitch. Note the pattern matching across the box pleats! Robe a la française, c.1770
  • This week's Friday Frills is this 1750s pink and green robe a la francaise. What is really interesting though, is that the fabric was made 30 years prior and this dress was made reusing an older robe volante (basically a looser version of this).
  • 18th Century dress, robe à la française 1770-75 via Kyoto Costume Institute
  • A rare survivor - An 18th Century silk dress designed by Rose Bertin and supposedly worn by Marie Antoinette and passed to one of her Courtiers, 1780's, altered in the 19th Century, but the quality of the silk & the embroidery is still clear.
  • Rear view of an 18th Century day dress, of white linen, block-printed with floral sprigs of various flowers in pink, purple, with hand painted blue. 1780's
  • 18th Century men's matching coat & waistcoat, 1760-1780, pinkish mauve silk coat, waistcoat and breeches in alternating diagonal weave, Worn by Thomas Carill-Worsley, who lived at Platt Hall
  • 18th Century men's waistcoat, made from embroidered silk from 1750-1760 but waistcoat constructed in 1790's, sadly he's lost his buttons
  • 18th Century men's waistcoat, this outrageous pattern used on the areas of the waistcoat likely to be seen are made of silk velvet in a chequered pattern with black cut pile and a yellow satin voided ground, 1750's
• Miscellaneous:
  • Tonight, we give you a fleam, for...
  • Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, daughter of George III, was born on this day in 1776. This wonderful photo is the only one that shows a child of George III. Also pictured are Queen Victoria, Princess Alice, and the future Edward VII.
  • Today's lockdown hair inspiration comes courtesy of Samuel Hieronymus Grimm and The French Lady in London. Fabulous!

Additions to the Loyalist Directory

As time permits, we add information to the Loyalist Directory. The latest additions and updates are as follows:

• Dickinson, Tertullus (son of James). His cousin, another Tertullus Dickinson noted last week was the son of Amos - contributed by Martin Conroy
• Mills, David - contributed by Carolyn Brown
• Dawson, James - contributed by Jo Ann Tuskin from branch records

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

Last Post: Barbara Colleen (Smith) Nelson, UE

Passed away peacefully in her sleep at Norfolk General Hospital Nursing Home on April 10, 2020, at the age of 72. Raised in Dundas and a graduate of Parkside High School, Barbara loved animals and over the years took in hundreds of both strays and purebreds, from turtles and salamanders to cats and dogs. She loved serving the public and developed long-standing relationships with her customers and coworkers at Jordan Livingston Furs, Robinson's Fur Department and Sears, and later in her career at the Canada Revenue Agency in Hamilton. She was a past member of the Hamilton United Empire Loyalist's Society.

She loved to decorate and spent many happy hours wandering antique stores, thrift shops and garage sales to find a perfect addition for her magnificent collections of treasures. She was a skilled seamstress, crafter and planner, always working on a new way to bring beauty and function to the home she shared with Ron Nelson, her husband. Greatly loved by her children Steve Bianco (Lynn McBrearty), Miranda Bianco, Matthew Bianco (Deborah Bianco) and Melanie Bianco, her granddaughters Madison Bianco, Taylor Bianco and Tarryn Bianco and grandson Jacob Slominski. Sister to Derrell Smith (Debbie Smith) and aunt to Allison, Elizabeth and Sarah, she is predeceased by her son, Stacy, and parents, Earl Dean and Kathleen Edith Smith (nee Scott). Interment at Port Dover Cemetery. A celebration of life will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Simcoe and District Humane Society is greatly appreciated. Notes of sympathy and condolence may be left at www.donaldvbrown.ca.

Barbara, a member of the Hamilton Branch UELAC, proved her descent from Loyalist Jacob Smith in 1999. She and her husband Ron volunteered at many Hamilton Branch events.

...Martha Hemphill, UE