It can take at least two days to drive by car from Nova Scotia to Fort Ticonderoga , New York as I have experienced. During the 18th century the distance took weeks however there are historical connections through prominent Loyalists. The strategic location of Fort Ticonderoga at the head of Lake Champlain led to its' importance during the French Indian War and the American Revolution. It is called the "Gibraltar of the North". During the French Indian War the Fort when occupied by the French was called Fort Carillon and attacked several times by the British. On July 8, 1758 John Grant was serving in the 42nd Regiment (also known as the Black Watch) with the British forces that led an unsuccessful attack on the Fort. He was a commander in 1776 when New York was captured. At the end of the American Revolution he was granted lands as a United Empire Loyalist at Summerville, Hants County, Nova Scotia.
Major General John Small who commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 84th Regiment based in Nova Scotia during the American Revolution also saw action in the 1758 attack while serving as a Lieutenant with the 42nd Regiment.
Fort Ticonderoga
When I visited Fort Ticonderoga in June, 2024 I was thrilled to be at such a famous historic site and able to view the artifacts on display. Among these artifacts was a powder horn that once was the property of General Timothy Ruggles. He is well known in Nova Scotia, where he settled near Middleton, as a prominent United Empire Loyalist. There he farmed and was one of the founders of the oldest substantially unchanged church in Canada built by Loyalists beginning in 1789. It was named Holy Trinity after Trinity church in New York from where many of the Loyalists departed by vessel.
Powder horn of Timothy Ruggles
GeneralRuggles death occurred at Wilmot, Nova Scotia in 1795 at age of 84. The following obituary was printed in the Royal Gazette at the time, and is said to have been written by Reverend John Wiswall, the first rector of Wilmot, another United Empire Loyalist:
"Died August 4, eighty - four years old, the Honorable Brigadier - General Timothy Ruggles. He was a native of and for nearly seventy years lived in Massachusetts Bay, in which province he sustained under His Majesty the first offices of government, with distinguished ability and reputation. An uncommon share of probity and discrimination first recommended him to the choice of the people as member of the Assembly, of which he was for some time speaker. Soon after the commencement of the war in 1755, he was appointed to the command of the troops raised in that province for the purpose of co-opearating with His Majesty's regular army agianst the French, with the rank of brigadier - geneeral, in which situation his singular talents enabled him to acquit himself with so much ability that, without the advantages of a military education, he was held in the highest estimation by the profession, particularly by my lord Amherst under whom he served during the war. As a reward for his services His Majesty was pleased to appoint him surveyor of woods for the district in which he lived. He was also appointed one of His Majesty's Council for the province. At the conclusion of the war he came to this province and with a degree of philosopy rarely to be met with at the age of seventy - four, set himself down in the wilderness and began the cultivation of a new farm, which he carried on with wonderful perserverance and success. The idea that his advanced age would not permit him to reap the fruits of his labors never damped the spirit of improvement by which he was, in a most eminent degree, animated, and the district of country in which he lived will long feel the benefits resulting from the liberal exertions he made to advance the agricultural interests of the province. It may not be without use to remark that for much the greater part of his life he ate not animal nor drank any spirituous or fermented liquors, small beer excepted, and that he enjoyed health to his advanced age. His sons, Timothy and John, were his executors."
In July 1777 after Fort Ticonderoga was captured by British forces led by General John Burgoyne some Loyalists, members of the Queen's Loyal Rangers were stationed there. When news of the surrender of the British at Saratoga in October 1777 reached the Fort it was abandoned after being destroyed. Eearly in the twentieth century Fort Ticonderoga was restored by its' private owners and it now operates as a a private, non - provite educational organization.
Greetings! My 5th great grandfather was James Humphrey, UE, a Private in Jessup's Rangers during the American Revolution who afterward settled with his family near Johnstown, Ontario. I am an historian who has authored 6 books and over 40 articles about United Empire Loyalists. As well I volunteer with the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada . Monument to James Humphrey at Johnstown Here I share some of what I have learned relating to the history of the United Empire (UE) Loyalists in the hope it is useful to others and encourages their interest . I begin with an interactive map that I prepared. It includes details with links to images and videos about places, people, and events. " ...
The first Masonic lodge in what is now Canada was established in Annapolis Royal , Nova Scotia in 1738 by Major Erasmus James Philipps. He was the father - in - law of Major General Horatio Gates, commander of the Northern Continental Army , to whom Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne surrendered on October 17, 1777 at the Battle of Saratoga . Masonic Monument beside Annapolis Royal Town Hall Gates was born in Maldon, England in 1727. He became an Officer in the British Army and arrived in Halifax around 1749 as an aide to Governor Edward Cornwallis. He served in the French Indian War in North America before selling his commission and starting a plantation in Virginia. During the Americ...
How is the Honourable Kody Blois, Member of Parliament for Kings - Hants, Nova Scotia connected to Nova Scotia's first multi-racial refugees ? He is descended from Abraham Blois who appears in the Loyalist Directory and has been proved as a United Empire Loyalist (UEL) four times by members of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada.. For those who believe they have Loyalist ancestry, after joining a branch of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada (UELAC), they can work with a branch genealogist to prove that ancestry and obtain a Loyalist Certificate . Abraham Blois, born in the Parish of St. Lawrence, Essex, England in 1747 took passage to America in 1774 and during the American Revolution in 1777 enlisted in the 4th Maryland Regiment of the Continental Army. However, he deserted and was officially discharged in 1779. Afterward he joined a Loyalist Provincial Regiment, the 2nd Battalion of the 84th Regiment, forme...
