Loyalist Records
by Lisa
South, Certified Genealogist
Being a true “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, I looked
upon loyalists as traitors when I studied the
Revolutionary War – until I read Kenneth Roberts’
“Oliver Wiswell”. While this is fictionalized
history, it gave me insight to the loyalist side
of the war. I’m still an all American girl, but I
realize there are two sides to every story and I
can understand why some of our ancestors were
Loyalists. In fact about 20% of all colonist were
Loyalist and approximately 50% of New York were
“King’s Men” as they were sometimes called.
Loyalists came from all walks of life, but the
following were usually loyal to the English cause:
British Officials, the wealthy who had much to
lose, ministers of the Church of England, Indians,
Indentured servants, and those of German descent
(because George III origin was German).
The words Loyalist and Tory were, and still
are, often used interchangeably, but basically,
the Loyalist supported the King’s cause, while the
Tories only sympathized with the British. Because
of this, Loyalists were usually treated more
harshly than Tories, having their property
confiscated etc.
Loyalists were supplied with weapons, etc., by
the British and made up about 50 British military
units. When it became apparent that the English
were losing the war, approximately 70,000
Loyalists left the country (this number varies
depending on the source). They went to Canada
(first Nova Scotia and then later Quebec and
Ontario), Florida and the Bahamas. Most of them
remained in those places, but in 1784 the American
government allowed Loyalists to return without any
penalty, so if you find an ancestor coming from
Canada after the war, a search in Loyalist records
would be worthwhile!
The Loyalists who stayed in Canada were
allotted land according to sex, marital status and
military rank. In 1789 the Order of Council (OIC)
granted 200 acres to Loyalist children when they
came of age. The Paris Peace Treaty required
Congress to restore all this confiscated
property.
There is a huge collection of Loyalist records
available through the LDS interlibrary loan
system. Visit a local branch of the LDS Family
History Library and search the Family History
Library Catalog. Place the word “Loyalists” in the
keyword search and it will bring up a list of the
records.
There are also large collections at:
The Loyalist Collection, Harriet Irving
Library, University of New Brunswick
http://www.lib.unb.ca/collections/loyalist/
New York Public Library Loyalist Records
http://unix2.nysed.gov/genealogy/loyalist.htm
Surry, British Columbia Public Library
http://www.spl.surrey.bc.ca/Programs+and+Services/Genealogy/
Genealogy+Resources+and+Holdings/Loyalists+Records.htm
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