UE Loyalist History

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 ...

On 29 July 1785, Governor John Parr of Nova Scotia granted 76 one acre lots to Black Loyalists outside of Digby. This land became inhabited by about 100 families.  It was named  Brinley Town   (also spelled Brindley Town) for  George Brinley, who served as Commissary - General for British forces based  in Halifax. He gave assistance to the Black Loyalists who went to Brinley Town.  He died in 1809, and when his Will was probated it left his Estate to his "coloured wife Mary Brinley" as appears from the  Prerogative Court of Canterbury, PROB 11/1503, 3 Oct. 1809. Will of George Brinley After researching and writing about Loyalist cemeteries in Digby I was asked by a descendant of a resident of Brinley Town about a cemetery for blacks located on the former site.  I visited the cemetery, investigated the names of people buried there, and in 2018 added information about some 70 persons to the Black Cemetery  on  Find a Grave . Article a...

Abraham Van Buskirk has been called the first Mayor of Shelburne , Nova Scotia, in the 1780s when, with the arrival of thousands of United Empire Loyalists, it became the third largest community in North America. His ancestors came from the Netherlands to settle in New York when the Dutch called it New Amsterdam.  The oldest house in New York is the  Van Cortlandt House Museum  which was built in 1748 by Frederick Van Cortlandt, grandson of Oloff Stevense Van Cortlandt, who arrived from the Netherlands in 1637, twelve years after the Dutch established the settlement of New Amsterdam on the tip of Manhattan Island in 1625.  The British changed the name to New York in 1664 when they seized control of the colony.   Some of the Dutch Loyalists who arrived in Shelburne, like the Van Nordens, moved to nearby Tusket to settle.    Van Norden Road  is a reminder of them. So, as well, is the impressive monument to the United Empire Loyalists in Tusket ...

The Black Loyalist Heritage Site in Birchtown , Nova Scotia, including the Old Schoolhouse Museum and St. Paul's Anglican Church began  in 1989, and a larger Centre opened in 2015. In July that year, I visited while participating in the Founders' Days Festival in Shelburne as a re-enactor with the 84th Regiment.  I photographed plaques on a wall inside  the Church. They were placed in recognition of monies donated by the United Empire Loyalists' Association (UELAC) for new windows. Below plaques to UELAC and windows in St. Paul's Anglican Church   Birchtown is important as the site of the largest free Black settlement in North America during the late 18th century.  It was established in 1783–1784 and  named after British Brigadier General Samuel Birch. He  helped oversee the evacuation of Black Loyalists from New York to Nova Scotia  and  signed the certificates of freedom—known as "General Birch Certificates"—for many of the formerly enslave...