BLACK LOYALIST RESEARCH
My journey of learning about Black Loyalists began as an extension of research about the location of 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 near Digby 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.
Included in my Black Loyalist Library are the following books, presented in alphabetical order:
Bahamian Loyalists and their Slaves by Gail Saunders, published in 1983 by Carribean Publishing Co. The author was Director of Archives, Dept. of Archives, Ministry of Education and Culture for Bahamas. Book describes Loyalist influx of 1780s and examines the slaves and their influence. I was interested to read this book to see how experience compared to that in Canada.
Biographical Dictionary of Enslaved Black People in the Maritimes by Harvey Amani Whitfield, published in 2022 by University of Toronto Press and Acadiensis Press. It includes information on more than 1,400 mostly enslaved black people.
Birchtown And The Black Loyalist Experience From 1775 to the Present by Stephen Davidson with photography by Peter Zwicker, published by Formac Publishing Company Limited in 2019. It describes the experience of African Americans who were among the Loyalist refugees that settled near the town of Shelburne, forming a community called Birchtown.
Enslavers of the Maritimes by Brenda J. Thompson, published by Mouse House Publications in 2024. Book provides listing of settlers of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI who had slaves. Two of the listings reference articles I authored.
Finding Fortune - Documenting and Imaging the Life of Rose Fortune (1774 - 1864) by Brenda J. Thompson, published by SSP Publications in 2019. Biography of daughter of Black Loyalist who became not important figure in Canadian history. An article I authored is among the notes.
From Freedom to Freetown - Black Loyalists After the American Revolution by Mary Louise Clifford, published in 1999 by McFarland & Company, Inc. Part II of IV in the book is about Nova Scotia, including the founding of Birchtown, Education, Black Preachers, Farms, and Thomas Peters
The Black Image in the White Mind - The Debate on Afro - American Character and Destiny, 1817 - 1914 by George M. Fredrickson, published in 1972 by Harper & Row. Book demonstrates how racism was not confined to the American south and how destructive it has been to American society.
The First Church by Brian McConnell, published in 2023. Book includes Chapter about the "Black Loyalists" of Wilmot, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia.
The History of Immigration and Racism in Canada, ed. by Barrington Walker, published by Canadian Scholars Press, Inc. in 2008. Articles within on "Slavery, the Loyalists, and English Canada, 1760 - 1801" by Robin W. Winks and "Land and Settlement in Nova Scotia" by James St. G. Walker discuss Black Loyalists experience.
The Loyalists of Digby by Brian McConnell, published in 2021. It includes two chapters about "The Black Loyalists of Brinley Town" and the "African Baptist Church".
Further Reference:
Black Cemetery at Conway, NS on Find a Grave
Black Loyalist Graves a virtual cemetery created on Find a Grave by Brian McConnell, UE
From Slaveowner's Son to African Baptist Church article by Brian McConnell, UE, published in 2019
Isaac Bonnell: A Loyalist who willed his slaves to freedom article by Brian McConnell, UE, published in 2021
Sam Langford's Black Loyalist Land Roots article by Brian McConnell, UE, published in 2025
The Black Loyalists, Loyal Blacks, & a Matter of Equality article by Brian McConnell, UE, published in 2022
The Loyalist Rector who helped establish a School for Blacks in Digby article by Brian McConnell, UE, published in 2024
