Meetings Previous to 2010
For meetings in 2010 and later, please click here.
November 21, 2009 | |||
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At the Annual General Meeting, after election of the new slate of officers, Lin Good passed the gavel to new president Dean Taylor. Several members then shared their family stories and showed treasured artifacts. First was Terry Hicks, with a story of his father's determination to have King George VI and Queen Elizabeth appear on the train platform at Watrous, Saskatchewan while their engine was stopped there during their cross-country trip in 1939. He was a school inspector who obviously cared about his scholars. Ottawa had refused his request, so he wrote directly to the King. He received a reply from the King's secretary saying "Their Majesties will appear on the platform of the railway station there, and they will, of course, be glad to give the children of your district an opportunity of seeing them" ... which did occur on 3 June 1939. Their Majesties were greeted by the major and about 10,000 students and people from the district. Terry added, "There was displeasure expressed by Ottawa on the direct intervention" taken by his father. |
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Eva Wirth described finding snapshots which had adhered to cardboard, and were at the bottom of a box of photos she'd gone through many times, but when she inverted the box, they appeared. She carefully removed the photos from between the cardboard and a piece of plastic film. On turning over one of the photos, she read "William (Red Billy) Caverly" and realized she was looking at her 2-greats-grandfather -- apparently so nicknamed because of his flaming red hair. | |
| Lynn Bell showed the "grandmother chest" he made for his granddaughter Lindsay. The artifacts added to the red oak chest include copies of an ancestor's headstone, letters, historical papers, pictures of 12 great grandmothers, spooons, and various other collectibles from his family's past. The first names of Lindsay's female ancestors are inscribed around the base of the chest, with small Loyalist flags above the appropriate names. |  |
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Mary Elizabeth Robb told of the schooner Garibaldi which set out from Fairhaven, NY in November 1880 with Captain William McGlenn at the helm. He put into Presqu'Ile but a headwind blew her across the lake, and the next day she was near Frenchman's Bay, only eighteen miles east of Toronto. They once again sailed back to Presqu'Ile but in strong squalls the anchor cable parted and her hold flooded. Two ships tried to rescue the crew. As night fell, a lifeboat managed to rescue part of the Garibaldi's crew but the captain, male and one sailor were left on board. By morning, calmer seas prevailed but one of the men had perished, and Captain McGlenn had lost consciousness. He gave up sailing and opened an inn at Hamilton. John Buck brought a Victrola given to him by his father before 1944. He has a collection of 100 cylinders, including a First World War ditty, "Bing, Bang, Bing'em on the Rhine" - presumably a play on the name of Lord Byng, the commander at Vimy Ridge. |
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| Philip Smart brought pictures of his beautifully restored 1851 old mill regency cottage, once rented by Byron Derbyshire and his wife Alice (nee Timmerman) from Arnold Booth, grandson of Benjamin Booth, U.E., a grist miller. Their daughter Harriet Derbyshire was married in the parlour of this house to Edwin Smart of Brockville; they are Philip's grandparents. The rare china carriage came from them. November photos courtesy Peter Davy, UE |
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October 3, 2009 | |||
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After a pleasant lunch, about 35 members and visitors were addressed by Sue Bazely, Executive Director of the Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation. Sue spoke about the three versions of Fort Frontenac that preceded the present building on Ontario Street. She illustrated her talk with plans of the various forts, and photographs taken during several successive excavations, as well as documents from the French period of residence in the fort. | ||
| During the business meeting preceding the program, Genealogist Eva Wirth announced that six members had been approved for U.E. certificates: Janet Lynn Smith, whose Loyalist ancestor is Lt. Henry Simmons; Lewis Eugene Willis who descends from Paul Comer; James Gordon Keller, Christian Michael Keller, and Reta Irene Keller who claimed Loyalist status through Johann Jacob Powley; and William Logan Beeman whose ancestor was Sgt. James McKim. Right: President Lin Good, William Logan Beeman, Genealogist Eva Wirth. |
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 October 3 photos courtesy Fraser Carr, UE |
William Cowan, seen here with President Good and Librarian John Chard, generously presented the branch library with a copy of his new book, " If I Can" : The Story of David Cowan, R.N., U.E. Incidentally, congratulations were expressed to John Chard, the 2009 recipient of the Dorchester Award given for "outstanding volunteerism in the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada". We all concur that it was well-deserved. | ||
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May 11, 2009 | |||
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Over 60 members and guests gathered at the Donald Gordon Centre, Queen's University to enjoy a fine dinner and socialize. Our special guest was Dominion President of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada, Frederick H. Hayward, UE. Mr. Hayward is the 35th President of the UELAC. Fred spoke about some of the issues currently occupying the Association, such as the need for improving Canadians' understanding of who the Loyalists were and their importance in establishing this country. He also spoke about "connections" -- how we find inter-connections among Canadians from coast to coast to coast, because of our Loyalist heritage. He mentioned his own connection with this part of Ontario, due to his descent from Philip Embury, one of the founders of the Methodist Church in the Thirteen Colonies. Philip died before the American Revolution, in 1773, but his brother's family settled in Ontario after the war. Philip's son Samuel lived for about fifteen years in Augusta Township (Grenville County) before moving back to St. Armand, Quebec, to be near his wife's family. | ||
| Ross Long, UE, was pleased to inform President Hayward that three generations of his family were present at the dinner. Ross's son Jim Long is the current chair of the branch House committee. |  | ||
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Fred says he is enjoying the opportunity during his presidency to visit UELAC branches across the country and speak with members. He obviously enjoys listening to the views of young and old alike. And Kingston Branch enjoyed having him visit! | ||
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January 24, 2009 | |||
 Mary Gilbert arrives photos courtesy Patricia Kempson |
Nancy Cutway's advertised talk on "Researching Loyalist Women" turned out to be a ruse: instead, Nancy appeared in the persona of her 5-greats-grandmother Mary Rowland Gilbert (1754-1822). "Mary" spoke of her life in Ridgefield, Connecticut prior to the revolution. She related some of her husband's activities in the Queen's Rangers during the American Revolution, their life in New Brunswick from 1793 to 1799, and then coming to Upper Canada when their beloved regimental colonel, John Graves Simcoe, returned to Canada to be the first governor of the separate province of Upper Canada. A good number of soldiers from the Queen's Rangers moved en masse from New Brunswick to settle in Norfolk County, around the newly-created town of Simcoe. |  Nancy Cutway as her 5-greats-grandmother Mary | |
| "Mary" wore a dress of linen and wool, known as linsey-woolsey, which Nancy wove and sewed for herself in preparation for the 1984 Loyalist Bicentennial celebrations. She demonstrated that her pockets were separate sacs, tied around the waist and worn inside her dress and underskirts, next to the "shift" -- the bottom layer, which also doubled as a nightdress in Loyalist times. In that way, the wearer could feel the pocket against her body, and would be aware of someone attempting to reach through the side openings of her dress, in order to pick her pocket! The carrying of a purse or "pocketbook" developed at a later date. Nancy cited the three-volume work by Murtie June Clark, Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War (Genealogical Publishing Co., 1991) as most helpful in developing her presentation, along with family documents. This collection of muster lists permitted identification of where Mary's husband, Sgt. Isaac Gilbert, was serving, sick at home or prisoner, at each quarterly muster taken through the revolution. |
 President Lin Good listens as Nancy/Mary answers questions | ||
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November 22, 2008 | |||
| A good turnout came for our AGM and election of the new slate of officers for 2009. Member Elizabeth Elston came from Peterborough to be presented with a 20-year certificate. Five members then brought "Show and Tell". First, John Buck entertained us with an old fiddle tune, "Buckwheat Batter", that our Loyalist ancestors might also have heard. |  |
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| Lorraine Abel told a very interesting story, that connected back to a meeting several years ago, when Sue Bazely of the Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation spoke to us about "Lost Cemeteries of Kingston". Sue mentioned that recent excavations under the parking lot of Bethel Church had disturbed bones from several burials, including one intact coffin with a plaque on it identifying the person inside — none other than Jacob Vosburgh, Lorraine's ancestor. Jacob and the unknown bodies have all been re-interred at Cataraqui Cemetery, Section K. Lorraine displayed a photo of the very nice stone that family members have erected, now that they know where he is buried. His wife was buried in Rochester, New York (where she apparently went for treatment of tuberculosis), and they had wondered where Jacob ended up. Now they know! What a happy ending. As a footnote, Lorraine mentioned that Jacob's father John C. Vosburgh fought on the U.S. side, and that the late Kate Smith, singer of "God Bless America", was also descended from John C. |
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Lynn Bell displayed the "Grandfathers Chest" he's made for his grandson. Embedded in it are such artifacts as a hammer Lynn got as a child; his father's Kiwanis pin and toy bank; plus pocket watch, pipe and powder horn belonging to Lynn's grandfather, great-, and 2-great- grandfathers. The panel addressed to J.S. Bell, Moscow came from an old shipping crate, and the hinges are equally old. The eldest Bell is commemorated by a reproduction of his Loyalist land claim. Lynn has included photos where available, and a pedigree of all the Bell ancestors involved in this chest. Lynn said he hopes to make similar chests for his four granddaughters. What a wonderful way to convey the past to the future generations! | |
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| Lynn also showed an enlarged sample of binder pages he's creating for his grandchildren. Each has a copy of an original document such as a will or land grant, then a typed transcription of the document, and finally a paragraph or two outlining the relationship between his grandchildren and the author of the document. Another great way to make family history more interesting for young people!! |
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Marguerite Colpitts proudly displayed a beautiful photo of her mother, Sarah Jane Babcock, 1895-1997. Sarah descended from Benjamin Babcock, UE, of Adolphustown. Sarah was married at age 18 to William Franklin Good, and moved to Temiskaming in northern Ontario. While he worked in lumbering, Sarah shot rabbits and partridge, and cooked them for the crew of workers. They returned to Parham and a farm off the Long Lake Road. Sarah's early life may have been almost as hard as that of her Loyalist ancestors, but she encouraged all her children to get as much education as possible, including her daughters. Marguerite said that Sarah would have been very proud of two great-granddaughters who are currently studying medicine at the University of Ottawa. | ||
| Jim Long brought a grain cradle to show us. It was, in its time, a great improvement over a simple scythe, since it combined the cutting edge of the scythe with a cradle that could collect the cut grain. Three swings of the cradle would cut enough to fill it, for tying a sheaf of wheat. This cradle comes from the Tamworth area, on the Arden road. One or two swings of the cradle are enough to remind anyone how hard our Loyalist ancestors had to work on their farms! |
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| The meeting ended with a pre-Christmas tea, and a surprise for John Matheson. Our long-time member recently turned 91, and members enthusiastically sang "Happy Birthday" and presented a cake to our own "Father of the Canadian Flag". |  |
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June 11, 2008 | |||
| Members and guests filled the room at the Donald Gordon Centre, Queen's University on Wednesday, June 11th. We enjoyed an excellent dinner and good conversation, then a little branch business was followed by our guest speaker. |  | ||
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Dorothy Duncan, former executive director of the Ontario Historical Society, gave an interesting talk after dinner, entitled "Canadians at Table - Food, Fellowship and Folklore". In particular she mentioned Loyalists: types of foodstuffs and seeds first provided to them by the government, the "Hungry Year" they endured, and the types of foods they knew and enjoyed. After the meeting, those present eagerly lined up to purchase one or other of Ms. Duncan's books and have them signed. | ||
| Four membership certificates were presented by Branch Genealogist Eva Wirth -- including her own! Congratulations to these members for their detailed research, proving their Loyalist descent. Receiving their certificates were Dean Taylor (ancestor Finlay Malcolm), Barbara Carson (Joseph Hicks), Jean MacLean (Abram Snider) and Eva Wirth (George Buck, Sr.) all June 11th photos by Nancy Cutway |
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March 29, 2008 | |||
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Peter Johnson, UE - the current President of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada - addressed the topic "Marching To A Different Drum: Your Loyalist And The Military". Peter challenged all Loyalist descendants to become familiar with their Loyalist ancestor's military career. Many of us accept the fact our ancestor was a Loyalist, based on his claim for losses submitted to the government. But do we know which regiment(s) he served with? what battles was he in? or did he act as a courier, or offer his home as a "safe house"? There are sources of this information available, but not being fully explored by most Loyalist descendants. | ||
| Peter's uniform today was that of a musketman in the New Jersey Volunteers. He pointed out that his hat is a bicorne, not a tricorne; its shape makes it less likely to catch on the soldier's musket when it rests against his shoulder. all March 29th photos by Nancy Cutway |
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left: Jim Long gives an animated introduction to speaker Peter Johnson. right: conversation over tea and biscuits |
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January 26, 2008Elizabeth Bardon, Director of Development and Community Relations at Hotel Dieu Hospital, Kingston, spoke on the history of the Hotel Dieu Hospital. Some of the Loyalists who settled in the Kingston area would still have been alive when it was founded in 1846, and likely benefited from the medical care provided by the Sisters. |
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| photos courtesy Fraser Carr | |||
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The Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph nuns had been working in Montreal for 187 years before extending their ministry to Kingston. The Jeanne Mance building at Hotel Dieu Hospital is named in honour of the order's founder. | ||
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November, 2007Tim Campeau, a PhD candidate at the University of Western Ontario, spoke on "Loyalists and Memory in the USA". The story begins by relating how many Americans, only uneasy at the prospect of "independence", were forever considered "traitors", or worse, Tories!! Mr. Campeau outlined the deep personal connections within families that made some Loyalists and some Patriots. Joel Stone, the founder of Gananoque, was a classic example of this dilemma: he being a Loyalist and his brother a Patriot. Joel Stone left the USA, but maintained strong connections with his patriot family in Litchfield, Conn. There was a Treaty in 1783, which permitted Loyalists to return home; as there were many connections between exiles and their homeland, and as "the family" dominated, it was hoped that families would not be divided by politics. However, over time, many Patriots forgot about their Loyalists cousins, and tended to lop them off the Family Tree. Once again, the Stone Family is a good example of current healing as the Stone homestead in Litchfield is recognized for its historical significance as a "mythical home divided". Many Americans today are becoming more aware of Loyalists. Tim invited all to visit his website on Joel Stone: www.colonelstone.ca. |
 President Lin Good chairing a meeting photo courtesy Fraser Carr |
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