UE Loyalist History

Between April and November 1783, British and American officials met at  Fraunces Tavern in New York City to document in the Book of Negroes approximately 3000, formerly enslaved,  Black Loyalists who were evacuating with the British. Samuel Fraunces opened the Tavern, originally called 'Queen's Head Tavern', in 1762 and during the American Revolution it became an important meeting place.  It was also the site of General George Washington's last meeting and farewell to his American officers on 4 December 1783.  The place remains an important historical site and is open with a museum. Display Room in Museum at Fraunces Tavern   On a visit to the Museum in Fraunces Tavern on 14 May 2025, I was interested to view correspondence between General George Washington and Sir Guy Carleton, the British Commander - in - Chief,  regarding the evacuation of Black Loyalists.  The two significantly disagreed over the interpretation of the 1783 Treaty of Paris which ...

Some may be of the mistaken belief that the United Empire Loyalists' Association is only open to  membership by descendants of white United Empire Loyalists. As we are in Black History Month in Canada, I am sharing this photo of David Peters and myself.  We were both attending a Christmas celebration in Saint John, New Brunswick of the New Brunswick Branch of the United Empire Loyalists' Association (UELAC) in December 2019.    He, as a member of that Branch and I from Nova Scotia, were both elected to serve on the Dominion Council of the UELAC  earlier that year. David had as his 7th great grandfather Thomas Peters ,  prominent Black Loyalist.   David Peters & Me Thomas Peters was born in Nigeria sometime around 1738, captured by slave traders as a young man, and brought to North Carolina before he fled and enlisted in the British Army.  He gained the rank of Sergeant in the Black Pioneers, an all black regiment.  At the close of th...

Born on 28 June 1977 in Fredericton ,  New Brunswick, award winning soprano Measha Brueggergosman - Lee is a descendant of a Black Loyalist mentioned in the Book of Negroes .  In 2017 she was awarded the Order of New Brunswick following upon several other recognitions. She was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2009 Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Musical Competition and won First Prize at the International Vocal Competition's - Hertogenbosch in 2002.  She performed the Olympic Hymn at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. Measha Brueggergosman - Lee She is the daughter of Anne Eatman and Stirling Gosman. When she married Markus Bruegger they combined their last names.  They met in high school and he was a student from Germany.  After her divorce in 2018, she married jazz guitarist Steve Lee in 2021.  In 2007 Brueggergosman - Lee learned she descended from a Black Loyalist while on CBC televison in a segme...

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...