UE Loyalist History

Actor and former professional wrestler Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was born on 2 May 1972 in Hayward, California and is a seventh generation descendant of a Black Loyalist mentioned in the Book of Negroes who settled in Amherst , Nova Scotia. He holds dual American and Canadian citizenship.   'The Rock' The Rock is descended from James Bowles who arrived in Annapolis Royal from New York on board the ship named Joseph on 9 November 1783. His name appears in the Book of Negroes, spelled as James Bowels of age 28 . It was a ledger of approximately 3,000 Black Loyalists made by the British before their evacuation from New York in 1783 which included names, ages, and origins. Record in Book of Negroes   During the American Revolution, James was a member of a unit called the Black Pioneers which served with the British. The force was a crucial, predominantly Black Loyalist military unit, formed in 1776, comprising formerly enslaved people who escaped to British lines fo...

My journey of research about Black Loyalists began as an extension of learning about the graves of United Empire Loyalists.   In April 2014, after becoming a member of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada branch in Nova Scotia, I started visiting heritage sites as well as cemeteries in Digby and throughout Nova Scotia, the Maritimes, and Ontario to learn more about them.   It began in Digby since I lived and worked nearby.   When I was asked in 2018 about a burial ground that was reported to contain Black Loyalists that encouraged me to begin research.  My findings were published in an article entitled  The Black Cemetery at Conway as a Reminder of Brinley Town & the Loyalists  . I prepared a video and also added information with photographs to Find A Grave.  Black Loyalist Books Included in my Black Loyalist Library are the following books, presented in alphabetical order: Bahamian Loyalists and their Slaves by Gail S...

I visited the St. Mary's Anglican Church Cemetery  at Auburn, Nova Scotia in February 2019, where Black Loyalists are remembered on an information board.  They have no gravestones in this place, and their individual graves are unmarked as I explain in the video which appears below. As with other persons who lived during this time there are now for many no marked graves.  It was reported of Aesop Moses, in the Annapolis Spectator Newspaper, on 22 February 2000, as part of  the Clements Historical Society Report, that he lived to be an old man of 105 and was probably the last of the slaves brought by their masters.  When he died in 1850 he was buried in his own field beside his wife . There are 11 persons of African descent identifed in the burial records of the Anglican Parish of Wilmot who are in unmarked graves at  Old Holy Trinity Church Cemetery in Middleton. These persons  are: Rebecca Ann Hamilton. Burial record: 11  October 1866 – At Trinit...

In 1984, the town of Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia elected the first female Black Mayor of Canada. Her name was Daurene Elaine Lewis, and she was a seventh generation descendant of Black Loyalist  Rose Fortune .  She first became involved in politics in 1979 when she ran for Town Council in Annapolis Royal and in 1982 was appointed Deputy Mayor. A bronze busk of Lewis by sculptor Ruth Abernethy was unveiled in 2018 when the town of Annapolis Royal renamed a downtown plaza after her. She was active in development of the Farmers' Market, the boardwalk,  and the Historic Gardens.  Bronze busk of Daurene Lewis Lewis was born on 9 September 1943 in Annapolis Royal and trained as a registered nurse. She earned a diploma in teaching in Schools of Nursing from Dalhousie University and a Master of Business Administration from St. Mary's Universit y. She was awarded an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Mount Saint Vincent University in 1993.  Daurene E. Lew...

Samuel 'Sam ' Edgar Langford has been called the best boxer of his time. He was born on 4 March 1886 in Weymouth Falls , Digby County,  Nova Scotia, and descended from a Black Loyalist. He went to the United States as a young person where he became a champion boxer in Boston, Massachusetts. Racial discrimination denied him a shot at many fights but he was crowned the World Colored Heavyweight Champion a record five times between 1910 and 1918.  Jack Dempsey, who was World Heavyweight Champion from 1919 to 1926, said Sam Langford was the best fighter we ever had .  In 1955, Langford was made a member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and his story is being told in his birthplace county of Digby. Sam Langford Information Board In 2025, at the Digby Big Stop Restaurant , on Highway 303 coming into Digby, off Highway 101, on the wall was installed an information board describing the life of Sam Langford.  It is one of many boards about people that are included in a...

David George was a Black Loyalist and Baptist Preacher who arrived with the British in Halifax, Nova Scotia in December, 1782.  He went to  Shelburne in June, 1783 to preach to Black Loyalists there and was conveyed land in the town.  The Deed to him dated 6 April 1785 may be the first Deed made to a Black person in Nova Scotia.      1785 Deed It was recorded on 7 May 1785 in the Land Registry in Book 2 at Page 183 as Document No. 54 and as appears below stated:  Know all men by these presents that I James and Ann Masimore of Shelburne, Queens County and Province of Nova Scotia, doth with and for the consideration hereafter mentioned, agree with bargain and sell unto David George of the aforesaid Town, County and Province a certain town lot situated in the said Town of Shelburne being lot No. 6 letter M in Parr's Division, which said lot I forever acquit claim and deliver over to the said David George with all the buildings timber firewood and all oth...

While researching Loyalists in Nova Scotia,  I came across this unique obituary for a 106 year old Black Woman who was born into slavery in Tusket, Yarmouth County. It appeared in The Halifax Herald on   2 Feb. 1898 at page 8. 106 YEARS OLD Death of one born in slavery in Yarmouth County – Her father came Over with Loyalists  - And her mother was Purchased Here (Special Correspondent Yarmouth Times) TUSKET, Jan. 30 – Passed peacefully away at her own home on Starr's Road on the evening of the 29th January 1893, Hester McKinnon, aged 106 years. Hester was the daughter of William and Dinah Berry from whom sprang the entire race of Berrys at present residing on the back road leading to Hebron. William Berry, Hester's father, was a slave belonging to James Lent, Sr., who was one of the first settlers of Tusket Village and was also known as Judge Lent as he administered the rights of justice in those olden times. Mr. Lent was one of the Loyalists who came here or to Shelburne ...