June | 2010 | Ancestral Notes

June 27, 2010 • 7:59 am 0

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.

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

Filed under: Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors.Government Resources

June 23, 2010 • 9:45 am 1

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.

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

Filed under: E-Books, Internet Archive, researching Your Loyalist Ancestors-Ancestry.com

June 23, 2010 • 8:39 am 0

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.

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

Filed under: free resources, researching Your Loyalist Ancestors-Ancestry.com

June 22, 2010 • 9:21 am 0

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.

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

Filed under: researching Your Loyalist Ancestors-Ancestry.com

June 19, 2010 • 8:01 am 0

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.

Filed under: Happy Loyalist Day, June 19, What Is Freedom?

June 18, 2010 • 8:04 am 0

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.

Filed under: Follow Friday, Our Ryckman Roots

June 13, 2010 • 9:59 am 7

Sentimental Sunday – We Will Miss You Grampa Morrison

This weekend has been a difficult one for my family, my children lost their grandfather Friday evening. Don Morrison was my father-in-law from my first marriage. He could have ended our relationship when his son and I ended our marriage, but he was a special man who always treated me like one of the family. Not too many people would invite their previous in-laws to their wedding, but I didn’t give it a second thought, they were part of my family and I wanted to share my day with them.

Photo taken for 50th Wedding Anniversary by Due South Photography.

He helped me through a lot of hard times after his son and I were divorced too. He didn’t have to, he had no obligation, that’s just how he was. I don’t know what I would have done without him.

He really enjoyed spending time with his family, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, My granddaughter, Mackenzie spent almost every weekend at their home.

Whenever there was a family gathering, for holidays or birthdays, Christmas pageants, dance recitals, Grampa and Granma Morrison were there.

Even when there wasn’t any special occasion, just playing Chase the Ace at the Hoopers (my son’s in-laws) on Saturday night.

Or Saturday afternoons at my son’s house, having a barbecue, watching the kids swimming, watching the older kids with their toys

and just enjoying family.

He would always give me a great big hug upon arrival, I will miss his hugs. I am glad that my grandchildren had a chance to know one of their great-grandfathers, my dad died three months before my first grandson was born.

I am thankful for having known this man, I have many wonderful memories of him that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Filed under: Sentimental Sunday

June 9, 2010 • 12:23 pm 2

My Juneteenth Project Part 1 – Who Was Annie Fox?

I was reading from the archives of The Essex Free Press, a local newspaper to see what was going on a century ago, what they weather was like, what the political climate was like and I ran across this sad obituary in the June 3, 1910 Essex Free Press in the County News:

She had suffered the inhumanity of being born into slavery and she suffered a painful and tragic death as well. I wonder if she had any happy moments in her life, or was it also filled with grief. The saddest part is that she was all alone in the world when she died, no one to remember her or bother to do her family history.

I thought that since she had no known relatives that I would try to find her family for her. I want to find out as much as I can about this woman, where she was from, where she was married, if she had any children, when she came to Canada etc.

I am going to start with her death record, it should have some information about where she was born.

Well, I didn’t find out too much information on the death record, I did learn that her full name was Mary Ann and that she must have been in agony for 11 hours.

The 1901 census should give me more information if she was here, maybe her husband was still alive. I’ll work back in the censuses to see if there were any children listed.

I’ll look for any marriage records, if I’m lucky, her parents’ names will be on it as well. Then I’ll look for any vital records for any of her children if she had any. I am hoping to at least find out what her maiden name was.

Filed under: Annie Fox sources, Juneteenth

June 7, 2010 • 12:33 pm 2

Madness Monday -The Tornado In My Backyard

I was up most of the night on Saturday watching the Doppler radar as the storm was raging across southern Michigan headed straight for the northern shore of Lake Erie. After the storm seemed to be weakening and the weather alerts were downgraded, about 1:20am, the station went back to regular programming and my husband went to bed and I stayed up watching tv.

After about an hour my dog, Angus, started whimpering and trembling and he was climbing all over me. Angus is an 80 lb. Lab mix who is scared of thunder, but there wasn’t any thunder, just rain, it wasn’t even windy. I’ve never seen him so upset and scared. Then the power went out and my husband’s scanner started going off upstairs and my husband got up and settled him down.

The first reports of storm damage started flooding in to the Emergency Services. There were numerous hydro poles sheared off and power lines down, broken gas mains and water mains, trees on houses, trees through houses, there was a clear path of destruction starting just east of Kingsville down County Road 20 below the ridge and into the south of Leamington and eastward to Hillman marsh. It was the worst tornado Leamington has seen in over fifty years. Having occurred in the middle of the night, it is a miracle that no one was injured. Several houses were destroyed by falling trees.

After all of the excitement, we went out into our backyard yesterday afternoon, not expecting anything unusual, we didn’t get much wind at all, and discovered that our birch tree had two branches twisted and broken half-way up the tree.

Nothing else was disturbed, not even any leaves or twigs in the yard or in the neighbourhood. My rose bushes in the front yard didn’t even lose a petal!

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

Filed under: Madness Monday, the Tornado InMy Backyard

June 5, 2010 • 7:07 am 1

Surname Saturday – Doan

I have been waiting patiently for Ancestry to update the death records so that I can find out who the parents of my paternal great-grandmother, Harriet Doan Hines were. I assumed that my maternal 2nd great grandfather, A.C.Doan, and she were siblings until I found the obituary for my 3rd great-grandfather, Linus Doan and Harriet wasn’t named as one of his children.

I made this assumption from information on my granduncle’s delayed birth certificate. Since both of his parents were deceased when he applied for his birth certificate in 1940, A.C.Doan signed an affidavit that he was his uncle. And then there is my other granduncle’s first WWI attestation papers that he put his cousin, Allen Doan as next of kin, was this A.C.Doan or his son.

So now the death records have been updated and I found my great-grandmother’s death record and I discovered another Doan family that I know nothing about, her parents were William and Rachael Doan who lived in Welland. I looked for the family in the 1861 census and found them in Welland, Ontario. I don’t know if these are the right people, but they were the only William and Rachael Doan in Ontario and they did have a daughter, Harriet. William was a tavern keeper in the town of Welland. Now the confusion, I looked in the 1871 census, William was still the tavern keeper but he had a different family. I don’t know what happened to Rachael and her family. I hope I can find out more information next month when I attend the Doan family reunion.

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

Filed under: Doan, Surname Saturday

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