An Empire Divided: The Loyalist Experience by Bev & Ken Rees

1. An Empire Divided: The Loyalist Experience by Bev & Ken Rees

2. Agenda • Some Definitions • The Loyalist Experience • Research Strategy • Repositories • Primary Sources • Secondary Sources

3. Some Definitions Pre-loyalists Early, First, United Empire Loyalists Late, Simcoe Loyalists Treasury Loyalists Military Claimants

4. Pre-loyalists Those who came to Nova Scotia from one of the rebelling colonies before the war broke out.

5. Early, First or United Empire Loyalists Those who adhered to the Unity of Empire. They lived in America before 1775, came to the Royal standard prior to the treaty of Separation (1783), and settled in areas remaining under the control of the Crown.

6. Late or Simcoe Loyalists Those who came to Upper Canada following the invitation of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe in 1791 to those who had not taken up arms against the Crown. This includes those living in what was then termed the United States of America, but also former military officers living in the Maritimes who were loyal to Britain.

7. Treasury Loyalists Those early loyalists who went to England, and were compensated there.

8. Military Claimants Members of regular British army units (or hired mercenaries) who remained in British North America and claimed land on behalf of their services

9. A Brief Loyalist History 1775 - Start of the Rebellion 19 Oct. 1781 - Surrender at Yorktown 4 May 1783 – Settlement in Nova Scotia Begins (~30,000) 3 Sept. 1783 - Treaty of Paris Signed 25 Nov. 1783 – New York Evacuated 22 May 1784 – Settlement in Quebec Begins (~10,000) 16 Aug. 1784 - Formation of New Brunswick 9 Nov. 1789 - Order in Council 19 June 1791 – Constitutional Act

10. Some Arithmetic • The population in 1775 was about 2.5 million people • About 1.0 million people opposed the rebellion • About 500,000 people were actively opposed to the war • About 100,000 were relocated after the end of the war • About 19,000 men served in some 50+ Loyalist units • About 4,000 claims were made for compensation

11. The Loyalist Experience Persecution Property Confiscated Military Service Claims Made Land Acquired Relief Celebration

12. Research Strategy • Start late – work back • Document everything meticulously • Start with family and home sources • Remember to use printed and secondary sources as finding aids • Use primary sources to cement the case • Use a variety of sources

13. How Should an Index Be Used? • Know the difference between an index, an abstract, and an extract. • Search all possible spellings. • Search for related individuals. • Search for known associates. • When an entry is found, consult the original record. (Always!) • When an entry is not found, search the original records. (Always!)

14. Finding Aids • Finding aids give access to one portion of a group of records. • Finding aids are similar to indexes, but they usually identify a larger area to search.

15. Finding Aid Use • Know what information is absolutely required in order to use the finding aid. • Know what information might help in using the finding aid. (More is not always better!) • Identify a strategy to get the required information.

16. Repositories National Archives and Libraries Provincial Archives State Archives and Libraries Other Libraries Family History Library

17. National Archives and Libraries • Library and Archives Canada – www.collectionscanada.ca • Public Record Office – • www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/default.htm • British Library – www.bl.uk • National Archives and Records Administration – www.archives.gov

18. Provincial Archives • Nova Scotia – www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm • New Brunswick – archives.gnb.ca/Archives/Default.aspx?L=EN • Prince Edward Island – www.edu.pe.ca/paro • Quebec - http://www.anq.gouv.qc.ca/ • Ontario - http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/

19. State Archives and Libraries • New Hampshire - http://www.sos.nh.gov/archives/ • Massachusetts - http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcidx.htm • Rhode Island - http://www.sec.state.ri.us/Archives/ • Connecticut - http://www.cslib.org/archives.htm

20. State Archives and Libraries • New York - http://www.archives.nysed.gov/aindex.shtml • New Jersey - http://www.state.nj.us/state/darm/links/archives.html • Pennsylvania - http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/overview.htm?secid=31 • Delaware - http://www.state.de.us/sos/dpa/

21. State Archives and Libraries • Maryland - http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/ • Virginia - http://www.lva.lib.va.us/ • North Carolina - http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/ • South Carolina - http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/homepage.htm

22. State Archives and Libraries • Georgia - http://www.sos.state.ga.us/archives/

23. Other Libraries • Buffalo Historical Society (Buffalo, New York) • Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society • Detroit Public Library (Detroit, Michigan) • Herkimer County Historical Society • Huntington Library (San Marino, California) • New Jersey Historical Society (Newark, New Jersey)

24. Other Libraries continued. . . . . . • Buffalo Historical Society (Buffalo, New York) • Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society • Detroit Public Library (Detroit, Michigan) • New York Public Library (New York City, New York) • New York State Library (Albany, New York) • William L. Clements Library (Ann Arbor, Michigan)

25. Family History Library • Go to any Family History Centre • Visit http://www.familysearch.org

26. Primary Record Sources • Military Records • Claims for Compensation • Land Petitions and Grants • United Empire Loyalist Lists • Confiscation Records

27. Military Record Types • Muster Rolls • Operations Records

28. Muster Rolls • Types of Loyalist Units • List of some Loyalist Units

29. Types of Loyalist Units • Provincials - mustered for pay • American Establishment - mustered for pay (higher status provincials (5 units 1st through 5th American Regiments)) • Militia - not mustered for pay • Volunteer Local Corps – not mustered for pay • Refugees and Associators – not mustered for pay

30. Some Loyalist Units • Adams' Corps of Royalists • American Legion • Associated Loyalists • Brandt's Volunteers • British Legion

31. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • Bucks County Light Dragoons • Bucks County Volunteers • Butler's Rangers • Carolina King's Rangers • Company of Select Marksmen

32. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • De Lancey's Brigade • East Florida Rangers • Emmerick's Chasseurs • Georgia Light Dragoons • Governor Wentworth's Volunteers

33. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • Guides and Pioneers • Hazard's Corps • King's American Dragoons • King's American Regiment • King's Loyal Americans

34. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • King's Militia Volunteers • King's Orange Rangers • King's Rangers • King's Royal Regiment of New York • Loyal American Association

35. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • Loyal American Regiment • Loyal Associated Refugees • Loyal Foresters • Loyal New Englanders • Loyal Refugee Volunteers

36. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • Maryland Loyalists • McAlpin's Corps of American Volunteers • New Hampshire Volunteers • New Jersey Volunteers • New York Volunteers

37. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • Newfoundland Regiment • North Carolina Independent Company • North Carolina Volunteers • Northern Indian Department • Nova Scotia Militia

38. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • Nova Scotia Volunteers • Pennsylvania Loyalists • Prince of Wales American Regiment • Provincial Light Infantry • Queen's American Rangers

39. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • Queen's Loyal Rangers • Queen's Own Loyal Virginia Regiment • Queen's Rangers • Roman Catholic Volunteers • Royal American Reformers

40. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • Royal Fencible American Regiment • Royal Garrison Battalion • Royal Highland Emigrants (the 84th Regt. Of Foot) • Royal Yorkers • South Carolina Dragoons

41. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • South Carolina Militia • South Carolina Rangers • South Carolina Royalists • Two troops of cavalry raised in Georgia by Governor Wright in 1781 • United Pennsylvania and Maryland

42. Some Loyalist Units continued. . . . . . • Volunteers of Ireland • Volunteers of New England • West Florida Royal Foresters

43. Muster Roll Contents (Typical) • Names and ranks • Notation if absent or if status has changed since last muster • Notation of circumstances that affect pay or absence (death, injury, prisoner, desertion, absent without leave, on duty elsewhere)

44. Muster Roll Availability • Muster rolls exist in varying degrees of completeness for most of the units that mustered for pay. • However, many units were “irregular” and did not muster for pay • There are few or no muster rolls for those units. • British units mustered about every 182 days. • Loyalist units mustered about every 61 days.

45. Muster Roll Locations Muster rolls are housed in four collections in three repositories. • MG 23 Chipman Family Papers (Library and Archives Canada) • RG 8 “C” Series Military Papers (LAC) • War Office 28 Volumes 2-10 (Public Record Office, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK; also LAC) • Haldimand Papers Additional Manuscripts (British Library, London, England, UK; also LAC)

46. Ward Chipman, Muster Master General

47. General Sir Frederick Haldimand

48. Operations Records • Operations records contain accounts of battles, skirmishes, movements, retreats, exchanges, memorials, etc. • Names of individuals may be mentioned in such records. • The movements of Loyalist units may give clues as to the area in which a soldier was recruited. • This is turn, may indicate an area to search for pre-rebellion residence of an ancestor.

49. Operations Records Location • Operations records will be found at Library and Archives Canada in the following record and manuscript groups: • RG 8 “C” Series • Carleton/British Headquarters Papers (MG 23 B1) • Other repositories (such as Provincial Archives, academic libraries, etc.) may have correspondence relating to military operations.

50. Guy Carleton, First Baron Dorchester