Using Lists of Loyalists to Find Loyalist Ancestors

No one list of Loyalists can be considered "the" List. There is no simple definitive and accurate list. You must consult them all, from the Old UEL list to Reid's book The Loyalists in Ontario: The Sons & Daughters of the American Loyalists to all the variant lists made.

Reid's book on Loyalists was never intended to be the Bible of Loyalist families. Reid simply organized index cards into what he thought were family groups. *Many*
if not most families are incomplete. Some individuals are incorrectly placed.

Reid's book is a wonderful resource, and a great starting point for your Loyalist research, but you should verify independently that a child he places in a family group does belong there (by looking up ALL petitions for that family), and never never assume that because an individual isn't in the family group he/she doesn't exist or isn't a Loyalist.

After 1796 the Executive Council kept a list of Loyalists based on District Rolls. This became the Executive Council UE List and contains about 3,500 names. It is not considered a complete list, but it is considered more accurate than the Crown Lands (Old UEL) list.

The Crown Lands Dept. created a second list, based on other records. This became the Old UEL List and contains approximately 6,000 names, but not all qualified.

When searching Loyalists you also need to consult pay lists, muster rolls, and the land records. For a good reference to what is available, see Brenda Dougall Merriman's book "Genealogy in Ontario: Searching the Records" Look under the chapter on Loyalists.

Check out this list of Loyalist Books & Resources which will help you find your Loyalist ancestor

FInding a Loyalist (Tory) Ancestor in Land Petitions

A Loyalist is any person who is loyal to their allegiance (especially in times of revolt). During the American Revolution in what was to become the United States of America, a Loyalist (also called UEL - United Empire Loyalist) was anyone who remained loyal to the King of England. They were called Tories in their own country but Loyalists elsewhere. Most fled to Canada and helped settle that country, particularly Ontario and Nova Scotia

For free Loyalist data online refer to the Loyalist Genealogy on Olive Tree Genealogy website

Loyalists could petition for, and were granted land as follows:

> 100 acres for head of family plus 50 acres per family member
> 50 acres for single men
> 300 - 1000 acres for army officers
> 200 acres for an NCO plus 200 for wives, if they applied
> 100 acres for a private soldier plus 50 acres for each family member

The Petitions of Loyalists for land, which are found in the Upper Canada Land Petitions on microfilm are not uniform. You may find one small petition, giving just enough facts to persuade the Crown to give that person a free grant as a Loyalist. You may find page after page of affidavits,testimonies, and so on, all documentation to prove the petitioner's claim. For example in my own Loyalist research,one of my Loyalist ancestors' files has an affidavit from a well known judge of the Niagara area, testifying to his Loyalty during the 'troubles' - this document providing his former place of residence in the United States.

Another Loyalist file included a document signed by his commanding officer in Butler's Rangers (providing his unit),describing the petitioner's hardships including being imprisoned 3 times in Albany NY. A second document gave great detail about the petitioner's wife (including the number of children) and her hardships in NY, including a description of the night the "rebels" (Patriots) came to her home in the northern part of NY and burned it to the ground. Thisdocument went on to describe her ordeal as she and her children attempted to make their way north to "Canada".

Don't overlook these petitions as a wonderful source of detail as well as genealogical material. Until you find them you have no way of knowing how much or
how little information may be contained in the file.

For more info on these petitions and how to obtain them on microfilm, see How to Find your Loyalist Ancestor

Getting Copies of the 1871 Ontario Census

Canada Census records for 1871 are available to the public. They give information on all household members - name, age,gender, country of birth, religion, ethnic origin,
occupation, marital status and education.

There are 9 returns for the 1871 census but there are 3 that are of the most help genealogically:

* Schedule 1: Return of the Living
* Schedule 2: Return of the Dead
* Schedule 4: Agricultural Return

Census records are available on microfilm from the Archives of Ontario, National Archives of Canada, on ILL (InterLibraryLoan) through a local library, or from your
local FHC (Family History Center).

You can search the 1871 census index to heads of household for Ontario

If you find a name of interest, you can order a copy of the census page from the National Archives. Requests for copies must include complete references

For help and a link to the 1871 Census order form

Free Public Access on Ancestry.com

To commemorate the NARA-Ancestry.com agreement on the eve of Memorial Day, Ancestry.com is making its entire U.S. Military Collection -- the largest online collection of American military records -- available for free to the public.

From May 20 through May 31, people can log on to Ancestry.com to view more than 100 million names and 700 titles and databases of military records, the majority of which come from NARA, from all 50 U.S. states.

.. more Military records

Newspaper Extracts from The Canadian Champion, Milton, Halton County Ontario

OliveTreeGenealogy.com added the following Ontario
Newspaper Extracts from The Canadian Champion, Milton
Halton County Ontario. Links found at
http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/free0408.shtml

Extracts of Births, Marriages, Deaths July 1869
Extracts of Births, Marriages, Deaths February 1872
Extracts of Births, Marriages, Deaths April 1887
Extracts of Births, Marriages, Deaths February 1892
Extracts of Births, Marriages, Deaths May 1899

Return of Emigrants Landed at the Port of Kingston, Ontario Canada 1861-1882

Today OliveTreeGenealogy.com updated the Return of Emigrants Landed at the Port of Kingston, Ontario Canada 1861-1882 with the addition of the following years:

June 1863 | June 1863-Aug. 1863 | Aug 1863-Sept. 1863 | Oct 1863-Jan. 1864 | Jan 1864

To date we have Oct. 1861-Jan. 1864 online for this Project. Many immigrants are shown as coming in from American ports such as New York. Many came in via Quebec. You won't want to miss this if you are hunting for ancestors arriving in Canada before 1865!

The General Remarks are interesting, although small and difficult to read. Most are quite lengthy, some simply state that a ticket was given for a loaf of bread.

For example Peter McLaren from Scotland to Quebec has the following notation "being destitute and deserving of joining friends at Thorold I gave him a pass to [Lacroix?]"

John Mill from Ireland had this note "His wife was confined on [unreadable] coming out and is now very poorly.. They are out of money...."

Mr. Leibke [?] of Germany is noted as "going to join his son in Sombra".

One of the saddest notations is for James Reich and family on 23 Jan. 1863 "the daughter Jane died near Prescott of diptheria, the family passed up to Guelph, the St. Andrews Society took charge of the body of girl and promised to see her decently interrred"

The column headings for each individual which are transcribed and online are Date of Landing; Name of Emigrant or Head of Family; From what Country; Via what Seaport Town; Destination; Condition, general appearance, health; No. of male adults; No. of Female adults; No. under 6 years; No. over 6 years and under 12

The column headings in the original ledgers which are not transcribed are in what Township Employed as Servants; In what Township settled, or bought land; Amount of passage tickets issued; Amount of provisions; Amount of Medical aid; amount of Capital brought by them; General Remarks.

Records of Baptisms of the Reformed Church at Machackemeck (Deerpark), Orange County New York 1716-1827

Researchers have been led to believe that church records for the Minisink aka Machackemeck (Deerpark) Dutch Reformed Church were lost for the years 1720- 1736. Histories of the Dutch Reform Churches in America reveal the following: The Deerpark Dutch Reformed Church was not established until 1737. Until that time, Dominies from the established Kingston Dutch Reformed Church travelled to the remote areas to perform baptisms which were later entered into the Kingston Dutch Reformed Church records.

The first Dominie at the Deerpark Dutch Reformed Church found notes on baptisms performed in 1716-1719 in Minisink that had never been recorded in Kingston. He appended them to the Deerpark records which actually began in 1737. Thus the appearance of missing records for 1720-1736.

Search for your ancestors in the Machackemeck Church records in Introduction | August 1716-July 1742 | July 1742-July 1745 | August 1745-June 1747 | June 1747-March 1749 | April 1749-November 1750.

More years to follow as OliveTreeGenealogy.com transcribers complete the work. We are busy transcribing February 1752-July 1827 for genealogists to consult for free. Be sure to bookmark this page and return often to see what baptism records have been completed.

Footnote.com Special Offer!

Footnote.com, my favorite subscription based website, is offering a 20% discount for May, so if you have not yet tried Footnote, you may want to give it a go. You can click on the special offer link at the top of any page of OliveTreeGenealogy.com and start hunting for your ancestors today.

For those who don’t know about Footnote, they offer NARA records not found anywhere else online. Naturalization records, Military records, a large Civil War collection are just a few. They also have the Vietnam Wall which is free and should not be missed. Footnote is known for its interactive website, allowing visitors to enrich the records by adding photos, linking related documents, and contributing insights to any name on the record

Peer Family History Book Completed!

Good news! After more than 20 years of research, the Peer book is near completion!

The Peer Family in North America: Vol. 1 Jacob & Anne Peer, Immigrants from Sussex Co. New Jersey to Upper Canada in 1796, a study of the first two generations (including documents, maps and photos) is scheduled for publication July 1, 2008.

Volume 1 contains narrative (footnoted) chapters on Jacob Peer Sr, and each of his children listed above. 32 documents (wills, land petitions, land records, etc) are included in this volume, as well as maps and family group charts.

Also included is the 21 page article Origins of the Pier Family in the Netherlands and an Update of their Connection to the Ostrander Family by Lorine McGinnis Schulze and Chris Brooks formerly published in the July 2000 issue of The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record

Subsequent volumes are in process for each individual in Generation 2 (Jacob & Anne's children) and their descendants. Interested descendants may sign up for notification of publication and updates

Include your name, and the Volumes you are interested in (Vols 1-9). See the list of sons and daughters of Jacob & Anne Peer, plus Volume Numbers.

An order form will be added to the page when Vol. 1 is back from the printers. I am very excited about completing the books after all these years.

Looking for a Civil War ancestor

OliveTreeGenealogy.com has updated its Civil War Section of the site.

There are some very good Civil War records available online now, and links have been added to direct researchers to them. Some are free, some are pay to view, but they are invaluable in Civil War research. If you have a Civil War ancestor you won't want to miss these searchable Civil War databases

Search NARA Civil War Pension Files Find your Military Ancestors in Civil War Pensions Index; Confederate Soldiers for Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia; Southern Claims Commission; Confederate Papers & Confederate Amnesty Papers on Footnote.com

UK Censuses 1841-1901 Coming to WorldVitalRecords.com

Find My Past Partners With FamilyLink.com, Inc.
UK Censuses 1841-1901 To Be Online at WorldVitalRecords.com

PROVO, UT, March , 2008 ---Find My Past, a family history and genealogy website based in London, England, containing over 550 million family history records recently announced its partnership with FamilyLink.com, Inc. to bring UK Censuses 1841-1901 online at WorldVitalRecords.com (a service of FamilyLink.com, Inc.).

“I really admire what Paul is doing at WorldVitalRecords.com. We are excited to have our census records as part of the WorldVitalRecords.com’s subscription because it will make our census records more accessible to an American audience who probably wouldn’t think of using our company as the first place to look for these records,” said Elaine Collins, Commercial Director, Find My Past. “We are also excited for this partnership because WorldVitalRecords.com has a successful track record and will continue to succeed in the genealogical industry.”

The UK census records comprise WorldVitalRecords.com’s largest database in the World Collection. As part of this agreement, WorldVitalRecords has already added the 1861, 1881 and 1891 censuses to its collection. Search this new UK Census at World Collection of Records

NEW! One Step Search Engine to the three new NARA immigration databases

Steve Morse has just created a One Step Search Engine for the three new NARA databases for Germans, Italians and Russians to the USA.

Using Steve's form, the name of the ship, the port of departure, and the date. is presented when you do the initial name search. NARA just gives you is manifest ID and expects you to go to another form to enter that ID and get the name of the ship, the port of departure, and the date.

Another feature on Steve's form is the use of dropdown lists to select certain values (such as occupation) rather than NARA's method for getting the list of possible values for that field.

These new search tools are at the bottom of the OTHER PORTS section of Steve's home page.

2008 Conference of the Ontario (Canada) Genealogical Society

May 30 - June 1, 2008

2008 Conference of the Ontario (Canada) Genealogical Society

Come to he largest genealogy and technology Conference in London, Ontario, Canada, sponsored by the Ontario Genealogical Society. Join Dick Eastman, Steve Morse, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Geoff Rasmussen, David Lifferth, Fawne Stratford-Devai, Louise St. Denis, Valerie Adams, Paul McGrath, Dick Doherty, Halvor Moorshead, Rick Roberts, Stephen Young, and 11 other speakers as they explore how technology & the internet can enhance genealogical research. 48 presentations.

The Marketplace will have the most complete selection available of material relating to family research in Ontario as well as material for other provinces and countries. Membership in the Ontario Genealogical Society is not required to register.

Jumping on the DNA Genealogy Research Bandwagon!

After following the growing enthusiasm for DNA Genealogy Research for a year now, I decided to take the plunge. Because I wanted to follow my father's McGinnis lineage, I needed a male McGinnis relative for a Y-DNA test.


Males inherit a Y-chromosome from a father, who in turn received his Y chromosome from his father and so on. Males also inherit an X chromosone, but females only inherit the X chromosone and thus can only test their maternal DNA, called mtDNA. This follows their mother, her mother, her mother and so on back through her maternal ancestors.

My brother was pursuaded to swab his cheeks for a DNA sample, and I ordered my 33 marker Paternal Lineage DNA test kit.

More about the test results to come!

NARA Makes Some Passenger Arrival Records Available Online

This week, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) announced that it has made available for the first time online more than 5.2 million records of some passengers who arrived during the last half of the 19th century at the ports of Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia. The records can be accessed through NARA’s online Access to Archival Databases (AAD).

The records were transcribed from original ship manifests into electronic databases by Temple University’s Center for Immigration Research at The Balch Institute. The Center donated the digital records to the National Archives. The records are known as Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Germans to the United States, 1850-1897; Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Italians to the United States, 1855-1900; and Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Russians to the United States, 1834-1897.

This series consists of records of 527,394 passengers who arrived at the United States between 1834 through 1897 and identified their country of origin or nationality as Armenia, Finland, Galicia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia,Russian Poles, or Ukraine. There are records of passengers who were U.S. citizens or non-U.S. citizens planning to continue their travels, returning to the U.S., or staying in
the U.S. There are records of passengers arriving at the following ports: Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia; the bulk of the records are for passengers arriving at the Port of New York.

Each of the passenger records may include name, age, town of last residence,
destination, and codes for passenger's sex, occupation,literacy, country of origin, transit and/or travel compartment, and the identification number for the ship
manifest. Information on each ship is in the manifest header file and includes the ship manifest identification number, the name of the ship, the code for its port of departure, and date of arrival. The ship manifest identification number indicates the port of arrival.

More Ships Passenger Lists can be found at Olive Tree Genealogy

1828 Nominal Return of Militia: Men of the First Carleton Regiment, Ontario Canada

Anyone searching for ancestors in Carleton Ontario may want to see the new transcription just put online at OliveTreeGenealogy.com

It is the 1828 Nominal Return of Militia - Men of the First Carleton Regiment between the ages of 19 & 39 - a list of 502 names

Details include ages, place of residence and former service

It is easiest to get to it from February's list of free transcriptions and uploads

Enjoy and please feel free to pass this information on to others who might be interested

Age of Consent vs Age of Majority Explained

author J. Brian Gilchrist,
gilchrists@idirect.com
Published with permission of author

There is confusion over two totally distinct terms: "age of consent" is not the same as "age of majority" (often known as "full age"). These terms are also affected by different types of laws: Canon Law, Common Law, Civil Law and Criminal Law (noting that the last three are now very much connected and often thought of in the public mindset as one, though still distinct).

Some of my comments below also do not necessarily apply to the United States of America following the War for Independence - although the section of Wills does.

When you reached the "age of majority" this would be when the person become of "full age" to own or lease land, sign contracts, etc.

Under English Common Law, the age of consent to marry was 14 for males and 12 for females - but this required permission from an individual of authority (parental consent is usually thought of as being required but that is not the case, for if it was withheld or unavailable - there were other options).

Under English Civil Law, the age of majority is usually considered to be 21 for males, and 18 for females.

Exception: unless the person was married previous to those ages. Example, in England, after 1754, if either the bride and or groom had been married as teenagers (with consent? remembering they could also have eloped to a big city and lied about ages and even their names to hide the event) and was soon widowed (by child birth, a farming / labour accident, disease, military action - or whatever) the surviving partner could be listed as "full age" (or "widowed") when they marry again.

Yet another aspect which is a subject unto itself, is that in England the age of consent for (heterosexual) sex was raised to 13 (from 12!) in 1875, and to 16 in 1885. This was due to the Victorian changes in the Criminal laws regarding operating a brothel, seduction, abduction and the changing rape and carnal knowledge laws, etc.

As to inheritances left in a Will, people were absolutely free to make their own "rules" regarding who should and could inherit, one major example being the difference between "fee entail" (aka "fee tail") and "fee simple". Fee tail can also be further subdivided into "fee tail male" and "fee tail female". This is another topic, and further whether any stipulation made in a Will or Codicil was legal or not, that too is also another topic.

However the Rules of Court at the time and place where the Will was being settled had to be followed.

An example of an estate situation could be where single uncle Angus Macdonald "entailed" his estate to his namesake nephew Angus Sheepway (son of his sister) so long as Sheepway changes his name to "Macdonald" when he "comes of full age", etc.

It was, and is not, illegal to use any name so long as it not for fraudulent purposes, and gaining an inheritance by changing one's name was not only legal, it happened more than we think. It is difficult to prove until one becomes involved in "whole family" genealogy and a general study of all the families of the area where your ancestors lived.

Another aspect of the age of "consent" and the "age of majority" can also be applied to being "indentured" and or "apprenticed" - again this is another subject. For example, Benjamin Franklin was apprenticed (with the consent of his father) to Ben's brother - James Franklin - at the age of 12.

So try to remember what my friend, Donald J. Steel, the eminent English genealogist and family historian and myself have been teaching for years - the term "Environmental Genealogy" - place your ancestor in the context of the location, the time period and the society in which they lived in - not ours.

It is often difficult of younger people of today to comprehend but may I remind everyone that it has been less than 80 years since "The Famous Five" did their thing in Canada in 1929 to help make women "people". Try and read about "The Peoples Case" of 1929.

So in summary - there are indeed differences to the terminology "age of consent", "age of majority" and "full age" in different places, in different times, for different reasons.

PEER Genealogy Puzzler for February

This ia Genealogy Puzzle for February. I'm hopeful a reader can point me in the right direction to find answers to any of my unknowns below, OR knows of a researcher for hire.

Here are the facts around the puzzle:

* circa 1817/1818 Edward PEER and family (wife Anna) settled in Northeast Twp Erie Co. Pennsylvania.

Edward and son John are found in 1820 census for Northeast (1820 Census for NorthEast Twp. Erie Co. PA lists Edward PIER and John PIER)

* Levi Peer born circa 1760 in New Jersey, settled across the border in Ripley, Chautauga Co NY circa 1817/1818. Sometime between 1825 and 1830, Levi PEER sold his New York land and settled with Edward Peer in Erie Pennsylvania.

Levi and family - wife Elizabeth and children - are found in the 1830 census for Northeast PA. This Levi Peer is NOT the Levi Peer (Pier) born 1754 who married Ann Dewey and settled in Busti New York

* In August 1831 Levi and family bought land in Illinois and prepared to settle there. Levi Sr. died before the family arrived in Illinois, perhaps before they left.

What I am looking for is:

1. Will for Edward PEER (Pier, Pear) who is buried in Philips Cemetery, Northeast Twp with a death date of 9 Nov.1834. His wife Sarah died 16 march 1833 and is buried in the same cemetery.

Edward's known children were John L. Peer b ca 1792 Canada; Mercy aka Phoebe Peer b ca 1800 Ontario married Mr. Averill (Stephen?) in Northeast PA date uknown and Lewis A. Peer b 1802 Ontario married Charlotte unk. in Northeast PA. Lewis is buried in Philips cemetery, death date 8 Nov. 1891

2. Will and/or grave record for Levi PEER (Pier, Pear) who died circa 1831, perhaps August in Northeast PA. Levi was married to Elizabeth. His known children (Levi, William,Abraham, Rachel, Hiram and Eliza Jane) all left PA for IL in 1831 along with their mother. It is assumed that Levi died in Northeast PA shortly before they left.

3. Land Records for both Levi and Edward. (or other Peer individuals) in Northeast PA. I have one land record, (but I'm sure there are more as both men owned extensive land holdings everywhere they lived) for 28 April 1825. It is an Indenture between Edward Peer and Sarah, his wife of the town of Northeast, Erie Co. PA, and Elizabeth Peer, wife of Levi Peer, town of Ripley, Chautauqua Co. NY, parties of the first part, and James McClung of the second part. The parties of the first part sell for 1400.00 50 acres of land in the town of Ripley - Township #3, 15th Range.

4. Tax or Assessment records for 1817-1834

So, that is my February challenge. Can anyone offer ideas, suggestions or even answers to this PEER puzzle?

Palatines to America National Conference in June 2008

Palatines to America German Genealogy Society National Conference

Sponsored by the Ohio Chapter June 19 - 21, 2008

Ramada Plaza Hotel & Conference Center Columbus, Ohio

"Tune Up Your German Speaking Research"

MARION WOLFERT: A professional genealogist and German specialist with the Family History Library in Salt Lake City Ms Wolfert will give 3 presentations: the keynote address "How Do I Interest My Grandchildren in Genealogy?," "Records in the Various Provinces and Regions of Germany," and "Border Changes in Germany."

MARALYN WELLAUER: A well-known genealogist specializing in Swiss research, Ms Wellauer will have returned from a research trip to Switzerland just prior to the conference. She will give 2 presentations: "Sources and Strategies for Successful Pre-19th century Swiss Genealogical Research," and "18th and 19th Century Swiss Emigrants and the Records They Left Behind."

MELDON WOLFGANG: A noted genealogy speaker and owner of Jonathan Sheppard Books Mr. Wolfgang will talk about "When to Hire a Professional," "Tracking Cultures Lost in Translation: German and German-Americans in the 19th and early 20th Century," and "Newspaper Research Tips for the Family Historian."

ROBERTA ESTES: A scientist knowledgeable on DNA and how it relates to genealogy Ms. Estes will present "DNA, Genealogy and You: An Introduction" and "Using DNA to Breakdown Brick Walls."

KEN SMITH: An author of numerous German genealogy books and teacher of German script Mr. Smith will discuss "Reading German Church Records" and "Confirming your Ancestors Place of Origin."

ANN MILLER SCOTT: The librarian at the Palatines to America National Library will speak on "German Ancestral Research and the Pal Am Library."

BARBARA NUEHRING: A speaker new to Pal Am Conferences Ms. Nuehring will present interesting information on the importance of "Timelines."

For Registration Information go the Pal Am home page and click on 2008 National Conference Information, or write to Palatines to America, 611 E. Weber Rd., Columbus, OH 43211

Click for a handout that you can print and post

View Palatine Genealogy information and history

Serendipity in Genealogy

Last week I decided to play around with FamilySearch and their new Labs, in particular Record Search.

It's easy and free to register, so after filling out the form, I logged in and began my search. I was not looking for anything or anyone specifically, I simply wanted to try it out.

Imagine my surprise when typing in my family surname (McGINNIS) from Ontario, up popped a 1920s death record in Ohio.

A closer look revealed it was my great-grandfather's brother, an individual in my McGinnis Family Tree I'd lost after the 1881 census, and a man I'd almost given up hope of ever finding! I had no idea he'd gone to Ohio, in fact family lore swore he had left Guelph Ontario for Hamilton Ontario. I'd searched Ontario for him without success.

And now, here he was dying in Ohio. His wife's name and her residence were given on the dath record. A note stated the body was being sent to Ontario for burial. With those clues I was able to find his wife and their children and a whole new branch of research has opened for me.

Serendipity at its best. So don't overlook taking the time to play with new genealogy records you find online. It can pay off!