Atlantic Loyalist Connections

In loyalist Saint John County, the condemnation of crime and “evil” played a big role in the maintenance of a proper and stable community. As explained in a previous blog post, Saint John County placed high value on having a powerful justice system. During the American Revolution, Britain’s loyalists lived in a state of constant insecurity; they were victims of mob attacks, and they were often driven from their homes.

“I need a job” says one bleary eyed and impoverished student to another; “one that is within my academic field.” However, in order to eventually get that dream job instead of a nightmare career (where the employee watches the clock tick to 4:30 with hungry eyes and assumes the running position), a person needs experience. What does “experience” even mean, and why is a student’s degree not enough? My answer: student jobs on campus are the true academic riches, as it is not only experience that is gained, but also the pursuit of a career related interest.

The naming of an individual can offer insight into the worldview of the name giver, including perspective on their religious, national, ethnic, and gender identities. The culture of people of African descent in North America during the eighteenth century is particularly difficult to research using the standard historical record because of their lack of representation among written documents.

Children suffering in any form will always cause a reaction from parents and making the right choice isn’t always easy. It was no different when Dr. John Jeffries inoculated children at the hospital on Georges Island near Halifax, Nova Scotia in the eighteenth century. In 2018, parents are fearful of giving their children vaccinations, just as parents were fearful of inoculation in the eighteenth century, but both of these practices can save children’s lives.

For the next three weeks, we are very pleased to feature series of posts authored by undergraduate students from Dr. Wendy Churchill's University of New Brunswick History course, "Medicine and Society in the Early Modern British World" using Loyalist Collection resources.

Tips for Transcription

The end result of palaeography often is transcription of a document. Transcription practices are not standardized, but there are some general “good practices” to keep in mind:

Our first post on palaeography generated a lot of interest and discussion (thank you, readers!), so we decided to create another post with even more background, tips, examples, and help for those trying to interpret historical cursive writing from the British Atlantic World.

A key component of the short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” recalls the tale of Major John André for whom “Many dismal tales were told about funeral trains, and mourning cries and wailings heard and seen about the great tree where the unfortunate Major André was taken, and which stood in the neighborhood.” The giant tulip tree which features prominently in the tale was “connected with the tragical story of the unfortunate André, who had been taken prisoner hard by; and was univers

“What fearful shapes and shadows beset his path amidst the dim and ghastly glare of a snowy light! –With what wistful look did he eye every trembling ray of light streaming across the vast fields from some distent window!” Ichabod Crane was often “thrown into complete dismay by some rushing blast, howling among the trees, in the idea that it was the Galloping Hessian on one of his nightly scourings!”

In this special edition of Lost Loyalists you will learn about five amazing women’s lives during the American Revolution. Loyalist women are often under-researched as they did not typically participate in the war as part of the military, but that does not mean that they did not have an impact on its outcome. These women have fascinating stories, and I am happy to share them with you.

The following post features one of the loyalists who is portrayed in our upcoming story mapping project "New Brunswick Loyalist Journeys." Please watch this page for further announcements on this exciting, new way to understand the lives and experiences of loyalists.

The citizens of Saint John, New Brunswick were gripped by fear during the mid-nineteenth century as a haunting spectre was sweeping the globe. Yet, this menace was not of a paranormal nature. Rather, it was one of humanities oldest foes: contagious disease, this time in the form of cholera. During both the 1830s and 1850s, Saint John would experience two outbreaks of this deadly illness, profoundly changing the lives of the town’s vulnerable population.

In the early nineteenth century, two fatal duels took place in the Maritimes: one in Nova Scotia and the other in New Brunswick. These duels happened between prominent members of society and were fought with pistols. Despite duels being illegal, they still happened, and like the cases that will be discussed in this post, they occurred as a result of bruised egos and served to defend personal honour. Duels were found amongst the first generation of loyalists as they were trying to establish themselves and their status in their newly formed societies.

The quest to pinpoint historical places, even those from the late eighteenth century, can prove a difficult endeavour for researchers and requires the skills of both Sherlock Holmes and an experienced historian. In New Brunswick, for instance, two main cites existed under alternate names for the early period of loyalist settlement: Parrtown or Parr Town for Saint John and St. Anne’s Point for Fredericton.

On September 6^th of 1816, Abel Sands appeared in the Saint John County Court House as the alleged father of a bastard child with Ann Mickens. About 200 years later, this record was transcribed by a student assistant in the Microforms Unit—marking our very first encounter with Mr. Abel Sands. As you can probably tell by the chicken scratch handwriting pictured below, this first encounter was definitely not straightforward.

For many living in present day New Brunswick, Canada party politics has become normalized. People vote for the party that has the most agreeable party platform, and the elected Member of the Legislative Assembly becomes an ambassador of the party first and their riding second. Many do not know that party politics was imported into New Brunswick with the signing of Confederation in 1867. Prior to 1867, New Brunswick’s House of Assembly was divided by the local counties only.