Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2018 Archive

In this issue:
- Celebrating Loyalist Heritage in Sierra Leone, by Stephen Davidson
- Loyalist Scholarship News: Countdown to Success
- Grace Galloway, Abandoned Loyalist Wife
- Revolutionary War Powder Horns
- Washington's Quill: The Most Difficult Days of the Patriot Cause
- Ben Franklin's World: The Social Life of Maps in America
- David Dinsmore, Ulster-Scots Loyalist in South Carolina and Nova Scotia Exile
- Where in the World?
- From the Twittersphere and Beyond
- Additions to the Loyalist Directory
- Last Post
      + Reta Irene Keller, UE
      + Grant Warner Howell, UE, QC
      + Irving St. John Reid UE
- Queries
      + McNiff Map
      + Parents of Matilda Leach
      + Response re How "Loyal" Were Our Loyalist Ancestors?

Celebrating Loyalist Heritage in Sierra Leone

© Stephen Davidson, UE

Given that the majority of loyalist refugees settled in what is now Canada, one can be forgiven for thinking that we are the only country where historically minded descendants celebrate the contributions of their loyal ancestors. However, since 1859, people in Sierra Leone have been commemorating all that they have inherited as loyalist descendants. What may be most interesting to Canadian loyalist descendants is that these particular loyalists migrated to West Africa after almost nine years as settlers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

While terminology and the historical focus may vary somewhat from that of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada, Sierra Leone's loyalist society mirrors its North American counterpart in a number of ways. As well as providing genealogical information on their loyalist ancestors, the members of the Nova Scotia and Maroon^† Descendants Association (NSMDA) also remember the struggles of loyalist settlement, wear loyalist era clothing on special occasions, and write letters to British monarchs as ways to celebrate their heritage.

Those in Sierra Leone who can trace their ancestors back to the Black Loyalists (a term of 20th century origin) traditionally refer to their forebears as "Nova Scotians". However, they knew that loyalty was a hallmark of their ancestors and remembered their contributions to the British war effort during the American Revolution.

One "Nova Scotian" had once been a slave of George Washington's. At 36 years of age, Henry Washington escaped from his master's Mount Vernon plantation in 1776. He became a corporal in the Black Pioneers and saw action fighting against patriots at the siege of Charleston in 1780. Eleven years later, he and his family joined other black loyalists to help found Sierra Leone.

When the NSMDA wrote to Queen Victoria in 1862, they noted that their membership had "that same loyalty and devotion as animated our fathers when they fought and bled for your Majesty's Illustrious Grandsire, King George of imperishable memory, in the War of American Independence." To be in Sierra Leone and to have ancestor who once lived in Nova Scotia was, ipso facto, to be loyalist descendant.

So proud were the "Nova Scotians" (or "Settlers") of their loyalist heritage, they were able to maintain a separate identity within their country into the late 19th century and beyond. Census records for Sierra Leone list the Nova Scotians as a separate ethnic group from 1792 until the 1870s.

Like its Canadian counterpart, the NSMDA has a number of important genealogical records for the descendants of the 82 Black Loyalist families that were the founders of Sierra Leone in 1792. Among those names are the Dixon, Easmon, Elliot, George, Gordon, Peters, Snowball, Stober, and Wright families. All of these Black Loyalists served the crown during the American Revolution and then settled in the Maritime Provinces. Documentation for these "Settlers" is found in muster lists, the Book of Negroes, and early Sierra Leonean records.

Eight Black Loyalists by the name of Dixon left New York City bound for modern day Shelburne, Nova Scotia in 1783 as part the spring evacuation fleet. (Some also spelt their names as "Dickson".) William Elliot, his wife and child -- as well as Nathaniel Snowball, his wife Violet and their daughter Mary-- also settled in Shelburne. Moses Wright, Prince Stober and John Easmon were clergymen in Maritime Black Loyalist communities. During the decade following the American Revolution, Rev. David George founded the Baptist denomination within Black Loyalist settlements in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. A number of Gordons who had been enslaved in the American South have their names in the Book of Negroes. Thomas Peters, a former sergeant with the Black Pioneers, was instrumental in securing an African homeland for the Black Loyalists who settled in the Maritimes.

Up until 1952, the NSMDA held regular culture nights in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. Historian James Walker recalled meeting a proud "Settler" woman who told him about dances and songs from Nova Scotia. "When our people came here they had their own food, their own language, their own religion, their own culture... We all dressed up in the old Nova Scotian costumes. We women wore long dresses with our breasts pushed up high and a tight girdle and a bustle out the back. Our shoes had buckles and we wore high lacy collars. We wore mittens, not gloves, and carried umbrellas, and had big hats on our heads". Unfortunately, Walker did not discover what the men wore to represent their Nova Scotian ancestors.

Writing in the early 1970s, Walker quoted Black Loyalist descendants in Sierra Leone as saying, "Family is everything for us", "The Nova Scotians are different" and "The church is the solid rock for all Nova Scotian people". Nova Scotians in Freetown today have kept alive their forbears' fundamental concerns for freedom and self-determination..."

Although certificates of Nova Scotia descent were not issued by the NSMDA, the historian Joseph Bangura noted that the membership was "strictly limited to those who are able to prove their descent" and that the society "is fully registered and governed by rules".

But being of Black Loyalist or Nova Scotian descent means more than being able to trace a bloodline or donning the colourful clothing of loyal refugees. Reflecting on the values of their ancestors, modern Sierra Leoneans told Walker, "We came here to be free. The Nova Scotian must be free... This was a free country and it belonged to the Nova Scotians. Then the colonial people came. They ruined it for us and they betrayed their own queen. Queen Victoria gave us a charter for our land and our freedoms. But the colonial people refused to give us all the land we were promised, and even took away what we had."

Like the white loyalist settlers of the Maritimes and Upper Canada who sought compensation from the British government, the "Nova Scotians" of Sierra Leone could look back on a history of land wrongfully seized and lost.

The NSMDA faded after the 1950s, but Sierra Leone's founding fathers and mothers were still remembered with annual events that celebrated the arrival of the 15 ships from Nova Scotia in 1792. The latter included a parade to the fleet's landing place and a religious service held under Freetown's landmark cotton tree. Two centuries earlier, almost 1,200 Black Loyalists celebrated their safe journey across the Atlantic from Nova Scotia beneath this same tree.

With the dawn of the 21st century interest in the Black Loyalist heritage of Sierra Leone has enjoyed a revival, and since 2014, a revived Nova Scotia and Maroon Descendants Association now hosts its own Facebook page. As its home page indicates, "The current effort is a revival of the Association that existed during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and is for the purpose of celebrating the Nova Scotian Settlers and the Jamaican Maroons, two of the founding populations of pre-colonial Freetown... the aim of this page is to highlight the history, culture, and descendants of the Nova Scotian Settlers and the Maroons".

And thus loyalist history is remembered and celebrated in Sierra Leone.

~*~

† The Maroons were 600 people of African descent who were deported from Jamaica to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1796. The refortification of Citadel Hill and the foundations of Government House are two architectural reminders of the Maroons' contributions to the capital area. Unhappy in Nova Scotia, the Jamaicans successfully petitioned the government for resettlement in Sierra Leone in 1800.

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

Loyalist Scholarship News: Countdown to Success

Writer and lecturer Susan Cain has said, "One genuine new relationship is worth a fistful of business cards."

At UELAC we have found this to be true as we build relationships with graduate students through the Loyalist Scholarship program. Providing Loyalist education resource materials and encouraging research through scholarship support is integral to our mission to preserve, promote and celebrate the history and traditions of the United Empire Loyalists. In return we benefit through direct exchange with accomplished individuals as they begin their professional careers.

This week we caught up with Sophie Jones (2016 UELAC Scholar) at University of Liverpool. Sophie writes, "I have just been reading through my last update (how time has flown!) to see what is new since September: all of my attention has been focused on finishing the PhD, but I'm pleased to report that it's almost complete. I'm intending to submit the final dissertation after Easter, so expect my defence to be approximately 2 months after - early June. I will keep you updated as to what happens!

In the meantime, I am teaching a new module at U of Liverpool ('Global Histories of the Present'), and in February I organised a small workshop in Liverpool titled 'New Perspectives on the Age of Revolutions'. I will be travelling to Orlando, FL in March to present at the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies annual meeting."

We wish our graduate students every success as they reach their academic goals.

Roll Out the Welcome Mat

The Scholarship selection committee is in the process of reviewing new applications for 2018. We look forward to welcoming new UE Scholars to the Loyalist Scholarship program in this our 20th anniversary year. Coming soon!

Mark Your Calendars to Celebrate Twenty, April 1 - July 1, 2018

Please join us in genuine relationship building as we celebrate twenty years of Loyalist Scholarship. Your donation to Celebrate Twenty will help to shape the future of Loyalist research. Stay tuned for details as we near the challenge launch date of April 1. Thank you!

...Bonnie Schepers, Scholarship Chair

Grace Galloway, Abandoned Loyalist Wife

by Richard J. Werther on 12 March 2018

Grace Galloway was living in a world of woe. The pressure had been building, and a little after 10 p.m. on August 20, 1778, it came to a head. Knock, knock, knock came the persistent rapping on the door of her Philadelphia mansion at the corner of Market and Sixth Streets. She informed the unwelcomed visitors that she was in possession of her own home and would remain in possession. Soon after, she heard the sounds of someone trying to pry open the kitchen door. She knew the invaders and what they wanted. Grace, along with several servants, held her breath and waited in the dark for nearly ten minutes as her adversaries worked to gain entry. The group breaking and entering was led by none other than Charles Willson Peale, the famous artist, acting in the capacity of a commissioner in charge of confiscating Loyalist properties.

Where was the man of the house while all this was happening? He was in England with the couple's only daughter, Elizabeth (known as Betsy or Betsay). He probably wasn't somewhere kicked back and relaxing with a cool drink, but he surely wasn't being terrorized or being forced from his home either. This turn of events, with the Loyalist husband gone from the scene and his wife remaining home to face the music, was not unusual during the Revolution. To modern sensibilities, this abandonment seems, at the very least, cowardly on the husband's part, and in the late eighteenth century, when women had very little in the way of legal rights or powers, it seems downright cruel. There were, however, complex considerations and pragmatic reasons that made such a move necessary, at least in the calculus of the Galloways. While the Galloways' case may not be the most representative of the Loyalist experience due to his political prominence and their (mostly her) significant wealth, it does illustrate much of what Loyalist women in similar situations faced.

Read more.

Revolutionary War Powder Horns

Powder for muskets was carried in a cow horn. If you were in the British Army you were issued a powder horn, but you were not allowed to carve your initials or name or anything else on the horn, or on your musket for that matter.

However, British provincial Loyalists were not under strict British orders and they could decorate their powder horns, rum horns, cups, and carve their initials into the butt of their muskets as they chose.

In this article are pictures of two original 1770 Rebellion war era powder horns and replicas of a rum horn and a small powder horn, both copies of originals at various museums.

Read article. For more information about the first horn, read the advertisement.

...David Clark UE

Washington's Quill: The Most Difficult Days of the Patriot Cause

By Dana Stefanelli, Assistant Editor, 16 March 2018

The winter of 1780-81 was one of the most difficult periods of the American Revolution for the Patriots, though the weather was only indirectly related to the challenges they faced. Coming in the aftermath of American defeats at Savannah, Ga., and Charleston and Camden, S.C., this was undoubtedly a military low point for the Americans. News of Benedict Arnold's betrayal and suspicions about Ethan Allen's loyalties raised concerns about popular support for the Patriot cause and the morale of the fighting men. The seeming unlikelihood of the situation improving further dampened spirits. Nothing describes this situation more vividly than the correspondence between Nathanael Greene and George Washington during the late autumn of 1780.

Greene was appointed to replace Gen. Horatio Gates as commander of the southern department after Gates's defeat at Camden. A skillful general, Greene had earned Washington's trust and is remembered as one of Washington's most valued officers. But as he made his way south to assume his new command, the burden of leading a large force of men under such desperate conditions began to weigh heavily on Greene.

Read more.

Ben Franklin's World: The Social Life of Maps in America

Martin Brückner, a Professor of English at the University of Delaware, joins us to discuss early American maps and early American mapmaking with details from his book, The Social Life of Maps in America, 1750-1860.

As we explore maps and mapmaking in early America, Martin reveals how maps had social lives; the development of early Americans' interest in maps and the type of maps they were interested in; And, details about how early Americans drew, printed, and manufactured their own maps between 1750 and 1860.

Listen to the podcast.

David Dinsmore, Ulster-Scots Loyalist in South Carolina and Nova Scotia Exile

It occurs to me to share with you a link to a series of postings I'm now making at my blog site about my Loyalist ancestor David Dinsmore. This is the initial posting in a series that now contains five instalments, with one or two more to follow.

This is the story of David Dinsmore, an Ulster Scots immigrant to South Carolina who served as a British soldier during the Revolutionary War and was exiled to Nova Scotia as a result. When Dinsmore went to Canada, his wife and their children remained in South Carolina and then moved to Kentucky. Two of Dinsmore's children, a son John and a daughter Mary Jane, spent the final years of their lives in Lawrence Co., Alabama. All the facts available to historians of this family suggest that, from the time of his exile to Nova Scotia to the end of his life, David Dinsmore never reunited with his wife Margaret and their children. War and exile sundered this immigrant family decisively. Read more and follow the links to each successive instalment.

I'm always hoping that someone somewhere may have information to share with me about the final days of David's life, after he sold his Nova Scotia Loyalist land grant.

...William Lindsey

Where in the World?

Where are Kingston Branch members Nancy and Steve Cutway?

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.

From the Twittersphere and Beyond

• Today in History: Lars D.H. Hedbor @LarsDHHedbor (see his page for associated photos):
  • 17 Mar 1776 British forced out of Boston following Washington's fortification of Dorchester Heights over city.
  • 16 Mar 1776 British naval commanders learn that Americans are loading military supplies at three Spanish ports.
  • 15 Mar 1783 Washington persuades Continental Army officers at Newburgh, NY to abandon uprising over unpaid wages.
  • Mar 14, 1776, the Skirmish at Sandy Point (Kiawah Island - Stono Inlet) South Carolina occurred. 2 Patriot tenders engaged a small Loyalist ship. The ship ran aground and was captured with its cargo of flour.
  • 14 Mar 1776 Alexander Hamilton receives commission as a captain in New-York artillery company, leading with great distinction.
  • 13 Mar 1777 Through its agents in Europe, Congress calls for foreign military experts to aid in leading rebellion.
  • 12 Mar 1776 Appreciation of the support of women for war effort is published in several Baltimore-area newspapers.
  • 11 Mar 1779 Army Corps of Engineers created to build & maintain fortifications.
• Townsends
  • Stagecoach travels: Boston to New York - Traveling in 1788
  • The rich version: A Well-To-Do Rice Pudding
• Colonial Williamsburg exhibit through 2018. Printed Fashions: Textiles for Clothing and Home. Colonial Williamsburg has not previously showcased its superlative collection of printed textiles that range in date from the late 17th century into the 19th century. With their stunning designs and bright colors, the objects in this exhibit will be a feast for the eyes. Printed fabrics were used to make fashionable clothing and to upholster home furnishings. While visually arresting, printed textiles also had economic importance as trade goods and as examples of technological advances. A variety of techniques were used to create innumerable patterns. Fabrics were resist printed, block printed, copperplate printed and roller printed.
• The talented team at the milliners & mantuamakers at Colonial Williamsburg create a c.1760s sacque with buttery gold silk. Read more...
• taking a look at 18thc makers "
• Was Susanna Renkin a shop name or a person, or both? Check the ads. In 1722 the advert was for the latest fashionable English textiles and millinery; decades later In 1768 it was for "groceries".
• A single French slipper, c. 1790s, of white silk twill embroidered with gold spangles/sequins, gold metal thread design of grape vine across toe and around upper, sharply pointed toe.
• Louisa Airey Gilmor with Jane and Elizabeth" by Charles Willson Peale, 1788
• Irish found home in Tamworth ON where some UELs had earlier found land. Article celebrating St Patrick's Day.

Additions to the Loyalist Directory

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

• Graves, Adam - from Brian Schellenberg

Reta Irene Keller, UE

Reta Irene Keller (nee Powley) passed peacefully at the John M. Parrott Centre in Napanee, ON on Monday, March 12, 2018 in her 95th year. Reta is predeceased by her husband James Herbert Keller UE of 67 years. She will be dearly missed by her children Linda Gibbard of Harrowsmith, Graeme (Carolyn) of Burlington, Jim (Patti) of Orleans and Trudy Millen (Ed Cornthwaite) of Cochrane, Alberta. Lovingly remembered by her grandchildren Lori (Richard), Scott (Susan), Tara (Ashley), Brandie (Erik), Janice (Graham), David (Tricia), Scott, Christian and her 13 great grandchildren. She is predeceased by her parents Overton Edgar Powley and Orpha Elzina Wood; granddaughter Katherine McGinty and siblings Mabel Moon (Stan), Fred (Lorraine), Victor (Hilda), George (Stella), Roy (Mary), Reginald (Dixie) and Ken (Alice). Fondly remembered by her many nieces and nephews.

Reta will be well remembered for her butter tarts and "hunting camp" cookies for which many a grandchild fought over at family events, (much to her delight). Reta worked for many years as a Newburgh telephone operator and in the tire cord section of Millhaven Fibres Ltd. In Lieu of flowers, donations can be made by cheque or credit card to The John M. Parrott Centre or The L&A Hospital Foundation. On-line condolences at www.wartmanfuneralhomes.com.

She did immensely enjoy the Rev War and 1812 soldier events at Adolphustown and Bath with the re-enactments and was quite proud of her heritage. Her Loyalist Certificate was to Jacob Powley UEL, one of the first Loyalists to settle in the Kingston area, was awarded as a member of the Kingston Branch. Reta also had a Wood connection, while not UEL, still was one of the first hundred settlers into the Sydenham area and Elizabeth deMille who was married to Henry Wood was related to Cecil B deMille which made her quite happy as she loved deMille's films a a child.

...Jim Keller, UE

Grant Warner Howell, UE, QC

Peacefully at home in Dundas, Ontario on Thursday, March 8, 2018. Grant will be greatly missed and lovingly remembered by his wife of 61 years, Pat; his five children and their spouses, Catherine (Helmut), David (Beatrice), Christopher, Julia (Scott), and Jonathan (Susan); and seven grandchildren, Alison, Catherine, Thomas, James, Claire, Matthew and Maxine. Son of Warner W. Howell and Irene M. (Freel) Howell. Predeceased in 1991 by his brother and law partner, Ross (Fredda).

Grant was very proud of his family and his United Empire Loyalist roots. Grant was a highly respected lawyer for 53 years, a farmer, and an active member of his home community of Hamilton. He will be remembered by all who had the good fortune to know him as a man of integrity and kindness.

Visitation hours will be on Tuesday, March 20 from 6-8 p.m. at Marlatt Funeral Home, 195 King Street West, Dundas, Ontario. A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, March 21 at 11 a.m., at St. John's Anglican Church, 272 Wilson Street East, Ancaster, Ontario, with a reception to follow at the church.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Hamilton Region Conservation Foundation, Amnesty International or the Hamilton Program for Schizophrenia, organizations with which Grant had longtime affiliations.

Indeed Grant was proud of his Loyalist ancestry. He was a great supporter of Hamilton Branch and acted as the Branch legal advisor as needed. His two Loyalist ancestors were John Freel and John Shaver.

...Mette Griffin and Gloria Oakes

Irving St. John Reid UE

A man of great faith and love for family passed away suddenly on Wednesday February 7th, 2018 at the age of 93. He had a passion for farming, sports, his church and making friends.

Irving was born in the district of Meskanaw, Saskatchewan to parents Lawrence Irving Reid and Edna Lapp Reid. He was the 4th of 10 children. School was 2 miles away but ¼ mile shorter in the summer taking the short cut through the fields. In winter the trip was accomplished with a team of horses pulling a "caboose" and a heater. High School was an even further distance. Once when Irving and a friend were on horseback on their way to school, they averted a train wreck by alerting an oncoming train that the track ahead was not clear.

By 1946 Irving started his farming career in earnest and married his childhood sweetheart Marian Brown. They celebrated their 71st anniversary last year. They had seven sons and one daughter, all born on the farm. In 1948 the Reid family became part of the Laurel Farm Co-op. Grain was grown and cattle were raised.

In the summer of 1966 the entire family moved west to Chilliwack, were Irving had purchased a chicken farm in Sardis. He was soon part of the "BC Hatching Egg Producers" industry. He held several administration positions on various boards and Co-op farms. Over time seven of the Reid children went into the farming business. Always a lover of sports, he also found time to coach a baseball team.

Irving and Marian moved from the farm to a nearby house. Their chicken farm gone, and in its place was the running track for Sardis High School. Semi-retired for a number of years, they spent winters in Apache Junction, Arizona and enjoyed many trips throughout the world.

To remember your life is one thing, but to show that life to your children and grandchildren takes a little more effort. Irving solved the problem by undertaking to write his memoirs from journals written during his lifetime. His vivid descriptions make wonderful reading. What an amazing legacy to leave for family.

Irving was proud of his Loyalist descent from Jeremiah Lapp. His wife Marian is also a Loyalist descendant, of James Brown. Irving was a proud and long time supporter of UELAC Chilliwack Branch.

Irving was predeceased by his parents and his son Bradley. He is survived by his wife Marian; children Harold (Laura), Maxine (Ken), Fred (Monica) Greg (Arlene), Rodney (Marlene), Alan, Robert (Karen) and daughter-in-law Karen; 19 Grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren and 1 great-great grandson; sisters Alice and Fran (Wes) and many nieces and nephews.

Irving was a wonderful man who had an amazing smile, an infectious laugh, a great sense of humour and a heart as big as all outdoors. A wonderful Celebration of Life was held at the Sardis Community Church on Feb. 13, 2018. Our love and prayers go out to Marian and the family. We shall miss you my friend.

...Marlene Dance UE

McNiff Map

An item in last week's Loyalist Trails, List of Loyalists Upbound from Montreal in 1784, notes the McNiff map of 1784 of the early LOyalists in the Eastern District. With Loyalist ancestors in that area, where might I find the McNiff map, or information about it?

NOTE: Helen publishes the newsletter of the Polk County Genealogical Society, Polk County Wisconsin.

...Helen Stoltz-Wood

Parents of Matilda Leach

From a query in 2015, Seeking Parents of David House m. Hannah Elizabeth; the parents of Hannah Elizabeth have been found.

Hannah E. (Elizabeth) BEAM is a daughter of Peter BEAM m. Jemima LEACH. The death registrations of her daughter, Theresa Rose Ann HOUSE, suggest this BEAM connection. Also, the death registration of her daughter, Nettie (Nellie) M(argaret) Moses, continue to suggest this connection.

Hannah was widowed and married three times: (1) David W. HOUSE, (2) Michael M. MOSES, and (3) Theodore SHARP.

Both she and Theodore are found on the 1852 census records as being present on the Peter BEAM farm. Not to confuse this information, but also on that record is William H. Chrysler, later a physician. He is a son of Matilda LEACH (1808-1893) m. John Chrysler (- 1837). Many of these persons with family connections are buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Waterford.

Maggie BOWLBY (1854-1928) m. Robert Moore. She is a d/o Alfred I. BOWLBY, Physician, m. 1854, Waterford, Ontario, Margaret (Mary) CHRYSLER, a d/o John CHRYSLER m. Matilda LEACH.

Peter BEAM is a descendant of Jacob BEAM, Sr. m. Anna Catherine BOUGHNER; and he is founder of Beamsville, Clinton Twp., 30 Mile Creek. The BEAM family has Mennonite roots in Pennsylvania.

Jemima LEACH is a daughter of David (aka LAKE) LEACH m. Mary DANIELS. This family may have roots back to The Plymouth Colony. Their ancestry goes back to David LAKE m. Sarah EARLE. It is this EARLE connection that hints at those roots. The latter persons are found in Little Compton/Tiverton, Newport County, Rhode Island.

I am trying to find the parents of Matilda LEACH (1808-1893) m. John Chrysler (- 1837).

...Howard Ray Lawrence

Response re How "Loyal" Were Our Loyalist Ancestors?

The query from last week How "Loyal" Were Our Loyalist Ancestors? resonated. William Romanski reports several responses to the families he mentioned:

David G. Bell is transcribing the journals of Ziba Pope which are on microfilm at the Vermont Historical Society. Pope was a Baptist minister who spen time in St George, Charlotte, NB. Pope knew one of the Greenlaws, and made mention of her. Mr Bell forwarded me the transcription of the entry. He plans on publishing in 2019. I implored him to contact me when it is published, and hoped he would share the release with Loyalist Trails.

Paul R. Caverly wrote of soldiers in every war switching sides, not always by choice. He suggested that camps were terribly uncomfortable, and if the enemy had warmer clothes and better food, soldiers would desert.

Brian Hayes wrote about his own ancestors, one who fought for the British and one for the America, and their grandchildren marrying. One ancestor also was one of the Guides and Pioneers, same as my Seeley. He is writing a paper on these ancestors.

And from Stephen Davidson: from the probate records of early New Brunswick (plus one newspaper entry).

GREENLAW, Alexander Parish of St. Andrews, Charlotte County, Yeoman. Will dated 12 May 1822, proved 15 July 1822. Son-in-law David SMITH my farm, the east half of Lot 45, if he provide for my wife during her lifetime. Wife, un-named, all other goods. David SMITH sole executor. Witnesses: William C. CARPENTER, John EASTMAN, John FOLEY.
Date July 4 1822
County Saint John
Place Saint John
Newspaper City Gazette
d. St. Andrews, 24th ult., Alexander GREENLAW, age 82.

GREENLAW, Jonathan
Parish of St. Andrews, Charlotte County. (Appears as "Jonathan D. GREENLAW" in the probate records. Intestate. Administration granted 2 April 1834 to the widow Sarah GREENLAW. Fellow bondsmen Thomas GREENLAW and William MALLOCK, yeomen, St. Andrews. James MUIRHEAD, James McCORMIC (as "James McCORMICK" in Record Book C) and Thomas JOHNSON directed to appraise the estate. Inventory, dated 14 April 1834, valued at £22.

GREENLAW, Walter
Parish of St. Andrews, Charlotte County. Intestate. Administration granted 30 July 1835 to the widow Abigail GREENLAW and William Henry MOWAT. Fellow bondsmen Alexander McDOUGALL and Jacob CARLOW, all of St. Andrews.

[With respect to the degree of Loyalty, Stephen responded as well, but due to the length of this issue already, I will hold this until next week – Editor]