Welcome to my blog, or should I say blogs. On my home page I will be posting information about the United Empire Loyalists in general, announcements, articles, research resources  etc. I will also be posting information about several loyalists as I find it. I also will have a miscellaneous category for general information about genealogy resources.

On Our Loyalist Ancestry Blog page I will be posting about the different members of the loyalist families I am researching. I will be concentrating on the Bradt, Doan and Haines surnames, but will have some information about different people that were associated with these loyalist ancestors.

I am learning quite a bit about the Loyalists and early settlers of Upper Canada in my research, and I have learned that the United Empire Loyalists who came to Upper Canada are not hard to find if you look in the right places and not all settlers who came during the time period qualified as a United Empire Loyalist. I have created this website to record my research about my family and share information about the Loyalist period in history. I have another genealogy blog, Ancestral Notes, where I am sharing my findings about all of my family history but this site is specifically for my Loyalist research so I have imported some posts from my other blog that I felt were relevant to my Loyalist families.

Links to some of the books I have found online about the Loyalists are available in my Reading Room.

UEL Blog

Follow Friday -United Empire Loyalists Association (UELAC) on Facebook

The UELAC has an open group on Facebook whick is moderated by the past Dominion President, Fred Hayward, U.E. It is a great site for members of different branches of the UELAC to get together and share information as well as anyone who is interested in learning more about the UELAC and membership.

Historians interested in the Revolutionary War and the history of North America will find this group worth checking out too. Genealigists and famikly researchers who have a loyalist or two in their tree will find this group helpful as well.

An objective of the UELAC is to develop a directory of people of the Loyalist era, and to categorize them, especially those who met the qualifications as a United Empire Loyalist and who earned the right, along with his heirs forever to the designation or post-nominal U.E., standing for Unity of the Empire.

There were tens of thousands of loyalists that came after the war and the list of the names in the  directory  is growing but is in no way complete. With the UELAC on Facebook, I think the message will get out to a much larger audience and hope that more will get interested in finding their lost loyalist ancestors and add their names to the list.

I hope that you will check out the United Empire Loyalists Association (UELAC) group on Facebook and decide to join.


 Posted in UELAC
  Tags uelac uelac on facebook follow friday canadian history loyalist resources

From Blogger To Editor

 

When I became a member of the Bicentennial Branch of the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada I thought that I would be able to find more information about the loyalists, maybe find some more resources for my research,  little did I know that two years later I would be the newsletter editor for my branch.

It is this blog that brought me the opportunity to be the branch newletter editor. Bonnie Schepers U.E., the current editor was looking for a replacement because she had been elected Vice-President of the UELAC and had to give up some branch responsibilities.

She found this blog and thought that it was well done and I just happened to be a member of the branch. Since I received my certificates I am no longer an associate member, I am now a regular l member and as such I have a duty to adhere to the UELAC mission statement:

To preserve, promote and celebrate the history and traditions of the Loyalist epoch in Canadian history by:

1) Uniting in a Canadian association the descendants of those families who, during the American Revolutionary War, sacrificed all to retain their loyalty to the British crown.

2) Collecting and cataloguing portraits, documents, books, weapons, flags, clothing and other artifacts relating to the United Empire Loyalists.

3) Publishing an historical and family research journal, books and newsletters as well as educational resource materials and encouraging scholarship and publication about Loyalist history and demography.

4) Erecting, constructing and repairing buildings, monuments and memorials in Canada to perpetuate the memory of the United Empire Loyalists.

5) Increasing public awareness of the Loyalist contributions to Canada and preserving, defending,and promoting Loyalist heritage within Canadian society, by developing and participating in projects and activities which honour and celebrate the memory of the United Empire Loyalists.

6) Defending and promoting the values and institutions fundamental to Canada's United Empire Loyalist heritage and, in particular, the Constitutional Monarchy, the Commonwealth, Parliamentary Government, the Rule of Law, Human Rights and Unity.

This mission statement was adopted at the Annual General Meeting June 8, 2002.


I will be honoured to be fulfilling this duty as I take over in the new year as the newsletter editor for the Bicentennial Branch of the UELAC,  and I hope that I can live up to Bonnie's expectations. It will be an exciting challenge in the next few years with so much activity with the War of 1812 Bicentennial and the UELAC Centennial celebrations in 2014.

 


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 Posted in UELAC
  Tags uelac bicentennial branch newsletter

Jerry Douglas Fisher U.E., April 8,1947- Aug. 4, 2010

I have lost an important genealogy contact for my Doan family research, Jerry Fisher U.E. 

From the Loyalist Trails newsletter :

Last Post: Jerry Douglas Fisher  U.E. April 8, 1947-August 4, 2010


    Colonel John Butler (Niagara) Branch Members were shocked and saddened to learn that the Branch Assistant Genealogist, Jerry Douglas Fisher  U.E. passed away on Wednesday August 4th, 2010 at the Welland Hospital. Jerry was the dear friend of Gail Woodruff. Loving father of Shelly Mae Fisher (William Cowell), and Wendy Eleanor Mercier, Grandfather of Nathan, Ashley, Sandra, Billy, and Alexandria. Dear son of Eleanor and the late Orlin Fisher, brother of Shirley Charbonneau (Arthur), and Larry Fisher (Dana). A celebration of Jerry's life will take place at Fenwick United Church on Monday, August 9th, 2010 at 11:00 am. Visiting from 9:00 am till time of service. Memorial Tributes to Fenwick United Church.
    Jerry was a father, a grandfather, a brother and a son, a researcher, a genealogist and a friend to all.  He was extremely generous with his time and valuable research.  Jerry was excited by his United Empire Loyalist background and was proud to use the initials U.E. after his name.
He spent many years researching his Loyalist Ancestors, Joseph Doan, Aaron Doan, Robert Cook, Isaac Vail, John Bradt, Hart Smith and Sgt. John Wilson and was especially proud of  the Doan Family. His hero was Aaron Doan who was part of the notorious "Doan Gang". Jerry travelled to Bucks County Pennsylvania to copy many original historical documents.
    On July 19, 2008, after much research into the ownership of the Steele Cemetery in Port Colborne, Jerry directed a dedication of the cemetery as an historical site and a Loyalist Burial Plot.  This included the plaquing by the Col. John Butler (Niagara) Branch of the United Empire Loyalists' Association designating the burial of a Loyalist.  He personally erected a similar plaque at the tombstone of Aaron Doan U.E.
Jerry was not content to let the name of the Cemetery remain Steele Cemetery, as in fact, there were no members of the Steele family buried there and part of the land had belonged to the Doan family as a burial plot. Relentlessly, working through the City of Port Colborne, providing immaculate research materials, he managed to have the name of the cemetery changed to Doan Cemetery.  On July 10, 2010 members of the City of Port Colborne and of the Provincial Government convened to unveil a plaque and sign renaming the land "Doan Cemetery".  A large number of Loyalist descendants participated.
    Jerry was the Niagara Regional convenor for the nationwide Doan Association and on July 11, 2010 he arranged the first local Doan Association Reunion that was a great success. He worked tirelessly to produce the new Doan Book:  "History in Our Own Backyard: The Sons and Daughters of United Empire Loyalist Aaron Doan".  Last week he completed the printing of the History of the Mitchell Family and The History of the Misner Family. Jerry can be credited for helping hundreds of Loyalist Descendants prove their descent and therefore join the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada.
    Jerry was thorough with his research techniques, as in all of his work.  He was a great friend who always had a hug for everyone. He will be truly missed.
                Submitted by Gail Woodruff, U.E.

 

Earline Bradt
websites: My Home Site - My Favourites Place
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 Posted in Loyalist History
  Tags jerry fisher ue obituary doan family

Sentimental Sunday - Cemetery Ceremony

My husband and I went to the renaming  of the Steele Cemetery to the Doan Cemetery yesterday on our way home and unveiling of the plaque presented by the Heritage Port Colborne Committee.

 


There is an article about it here: Welland Tribune.

Here is a video of the unveiling of the plaque by the mayor of Port Colborne, Vance Badaway. He spoke of the history of Port Colborne and Humberstone Township and the Doan family's mark on the community. The hospital in Port Colborne is on land originally owned by Joseph Doan Sr., Aaron Doan's father.

A recent article: Port Cemeterey Designated as Historic
 
I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the video, it is my first one and I don't know what happened but the audio didn't get recorded.


The  ceremony was continued at Aaron Doan's grave site with four people receiving their UEL certificates , some family members spoke about the life of Aaron Doan and family history and members of the Doan family placed roses on his grave. The ceremony was closed with the Loyalist's Prayer.

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 Posted in Loyalist History
  Tags cemetery ceremony sentimental sunday doan family uel loyalist history

Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Government Resources

Library and Archives Canada is one of many government sites for researching your loyalist ancestor. The LAC has many original documents on microfilms that can be ordered. You can browse the topics alphabetically or search the archives. There are land records, military records, censuses and several collections as well that can be ordered on microfilm. The censuses on-line don't have much data about loyalist families, but they can be used to determine where the descendants of the  family settled or migrated or if they returned to the United States later on as many did.

Provincial Archives have a lot of information as well, Archives of Ontario has vital statistics, land records, wills and estate records, court records, war records etc.

Search for your loyalist ancestors in records in the states where your ancestors lived prior to the Revolutionary war, the provinces where they lived afterward and the national archives as well. My ancestors lived in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania before 1776 so I search in those state files as well as the US National Archives site.

Municipal sites may have historical information about the people who settled the area, historic events, etc. that may be of some help to you as well.

related posts:
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors -Ancestry.com Resources
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors -UELAC
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors -Internet Archive

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

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  Tags researching your loyalist ancestorsgovernment resources

Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Internet Archive

I have found that e-books that are downloadable and  for reading at leisure can be very helpful. Internet Archive has several books available about the United Empire Loyalists and the Revolutionary War that I have found invaluable. I have downloaded several and saved to read offline. The pdf books are searchable and the text can be easily copied and pasted. They are available in several formats for easy reading.

To get the most results I decided to try different keywords, I entered United Empire Loyalists and got 16 hits. Then I chose the keyword loyalists and got over 280 hits. When I entered Revolutionary War I got 1760 hits and American Revolution I got 2,757 hits. I tried different places, I entered Upper Canada and I got 1001 hits.  Tryon County only produced 12 hits while New York History yielded 38,161 hits.

There is also a collection of Genealogy books available. To get to this collection you have to select texts from the top menu. Under the top menu will appear tabs for different libraries and a tab for Additional Collections. Here you will find the Genealogy Collection with almost 30,000 items available.

My next post will be about loyalist resources within the government archives. 

related articles:
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Ancestry.com
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - UELAC
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Government Resources





Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

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 Posted in Loyalist History
  Tags internet archive ebooks researching your loyalist ancestorsancestrycom

Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - UELAC

One of the first sites I went to when I started to research my loyalist ancestors was the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada or UELAC website. I learned a bit more about who the loyalists were. I also checked the Loyalist Directory on the site, where there is a list of all known loyalists and more names are being added all the time. I found my ancestors Joseph Haines, Sr. and Nathaniel Haines listed in the directory and found that Joseph Haines,Sr. had proven descendants but Nathaniel Haines didn't have any proven descendants, yet.

The Loyalist Trails Archives on the site are listed with the topics of each weekly issue outlined. There are loyalist family histories, research tips, events, queries, obituaries, etc. There is a lot of valuable information about the loyalists, where they came from, how they came, where they settled, who they associated with, what their daily lives were like, their different cultures and customs.

There is also several links for further loyalist research resources, such as the On-line Institute For Advanced Loyalist Studies and Olive Tree Genealogy.

related articles:
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Ancestry.com
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Internet Archive
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Government Resources



Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

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  Tags free resources researching your loyalist ancestorsancestrycom

Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Ancestry.com Resources

I am currently researching my Loyalist ancestors and I have found information in several different places, on-line, in published works, libraries and museums. First, I would lke to share some of my on line resources.
The Card Catalogue at Ancestry.com has many reference books such as:

  • Coldham, Peter Wilson. American Migrations 1765-1799: The lives, times, and families of colonial Americans who remained loyal to the British Crown before, during and after the Revolutionary War, as related in their own words and through their correspondence. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2000.
  • PERSI is the largest and most widely-used subject index covering genealogy and local history periodicals written in English and French (Canada). The collection dates from approximately 1800. There are currently over 1.7 million searchable records and nearly 6,000 different periodicals, which library staffers at the Allen County Public Library have been compiling for over a decade. PERSI is widely recognized as essential for high-quality genealogy research.
  • Smith, Clifford Neal. British and German Deserters, Dischargees, and Prisoners of War Who May Have Remained in Canada anad the United States, 1774-1783. Part One and Part Two. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.
  • Reid, William D. The Loyalists in Ontario: The Sons and Daughters of the American Loyalists of Upper Canada. Lambertville, NJ, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1973.
  • Births-deaths-marriages, Christian messenger. Hamilton, Ont.: Hamilton Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1960.
  • Ezra E. Eby. A biographical history of Waterloo township and other townships of the county: being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character, v. 1. Berlin [Kitchener, Ont.]: [s.n.], 1896.
  • Centennial Committee. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Toronto, Canada: Rose Publishing Co., 1885.
  • United Empire Loyalists, Parts I-II Fraser, Alexander. [United Empire Loyalists]: Second Report of the Bureau of Archives for the Province of Ontario. Toronto, Canada: L. K. Cameron, 1905.
  • Chadwick, Edward Marion,. Ontarian families : genealogies of United-Empire-loyalists and other pioneer families of Upper Canada. Toronto: Rolph, Smith & Co., 1895-1898.
  • Ontario People 1796 - 1803 - transcribed and annotated by E.Keith Ftzgerald (I own this book)
  • A brief sketch of the county of Essex, in the province of Ontario, Canada: also a short history of the formation and growth of the town of Essex, with biographical sketches of some of the public men, descriptions of buildings &c., describing its climate, situation, resources, soil, productions, and advantages as a place of settlement. Essex, Ont.: J.E. Johnson, [1889?]
  • William Henry Egle, ed.. Journals and diaries of the war of the revolution with lists of officers and soldiers, 1775-1783. [Harrisburg, Pa.?]: [s.n.], 1893
  • Caniff, William. History of the Settlement of Upper Canada, With Special Reference to the Bay of Quinte. Toronto, Canada: Dudley & Burns, Printers, Victoria Hall, 1869.

There are also many church, county and family histories, too numerous to mention as well as genealogies, diaries and memoirs, military and court records, historical buildings, etc.This is a good place to start, but you need a subscription so I'm going to offer some free sites that I have found very helpful in my next post.

related posts:
Reasearching Your Loyalist Ancestors - UELAC
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Internet Archive
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Government Resources


Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

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  Tags researching your loyalist ancestorsancestrycom

What Is Freedom?

Today is Loyalist Day in Ontario and Juneteenth. What do they have in common? They are both celebrating Freedom. Freedom from oppression and persecution, freedom to choose where we want to live, what we want to believe, freedom to live life.

We take our freedom for granted, couldn't imagine life without it, but there were times in our history that our forefathers made great sacrifices to obtain and keep their freedom and ensure the freedom of future generations.

The Revolutionary war took away many people's freedom of choice, either you had to take up arms against the British or you were the enemy, there was no neutral ground. Whether because of differing political beliefs, religious beliefs or personal beliefs, if you didn't comply you were persecuted. These are the times that our ancestors lived in, never knowing if their long-time neighbours and friends today would be their enemies tomorrow.

Freedom is not physical, it's a state of mind. Hope and faith, that is what kept our Loyalist ancestors going against all odds. Without them there is no sense of direction, no future. We will comply with anything as long as it makes life easier, forgoing our beliefs and long-term goals for an easy way out.

Today's youth, more and more, are losing hope and faith, in their leaders, their government, their world. It is up to us to give that back to them, tell them of the struggles that our ancestors went through for our freedom, they may recognize their sacrifices and want to honour them by being more hopeful for their own futures. Only with hope and faith are you truly free!


Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

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  Tags happy loyalist day what is freedom june 19

Follow Friday - Loyalist Blog - Our Ryckman Roots

It's been a busy week for me, first a death in the family, then I wasn't able to get on-line for a couple of days so I'm trying to catch up on my blogging and haven't had much chance to read a lot of my favourites this week. I can read them on my Blackberry, but it's hard to read, so I just starred the posts that most interested me to read later.

To commemorate Loyalist Day in Ontario tomorrow, June 19, and Loyalist Week June 21-27 in the Niagara area, I am recommending a Loyalist blog, Our Ryckman Roots. Katheryn Lake is the author of this blog as well as LOOKING4ANCESTORS . She is working on her certification for her loyalist Ryckman ancestors. She has hit a brick wall with William Ryckman but if anyone can break through the brick wall, she can. Kathryn is our branch genealogist at the Bicentennial Branch of the UELAC.



Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

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  Tags follow friday our ryckman roots

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