Ancestor Stories

To commemorate Canada’s 150th anniversary, members of Kingston and District were asked to write up vignettes from the lives of their United Empire Loyalist ancestors and related families. We hope this offers a glimpse into the varied backgrounds and lives of those who first arrived to settle Canada, and their indigenous neighbours and fellow Loyalists. Some of the stories show the roles that Loyalist descendants have played in the development of Canada.

The stories are arranged in alphabetical order by the surname of the Loyalist relative. Click on the relevant link to open a PDF you can read online or download.

Loyalist Profiled (by Contributor)

Joseph Benjamin ALLISON (by Merton Davis)

Joseph ALLISON (by Lois Love)

Solomon AUSTIN (by Nancy Cutway)

Thomas Bernard Smith AUSTIN (by Nancy Cutway)

Isaiah BARTLEY (by Gladys Boice Tolbert)

William BELL (by John Lynn Bell)

Joshua BOOTH (by Philip Smart)

George BUCK (by John Buck)

Alexander CAMPBELL (by Lois O’Hara)

CARTWRIGHT family (by Agnes Etherington Art Centre)

John CRYSLER (by Lorraine Sherren)

DORLAND family (by Philip Smart)

Anson DULMAGE in WWI (by Nancy Cutway)

Jacob DULMAGE (by Nancy Cutway)

The EMICH/EIGHMEY/AMEY Family (by Sidney Eighmey)

John ESELSTINE [ASSELSTINE] (by Jim Long)

Martin FRALICK (by Annette Long)

Daniel FRASER (by Hugh Henderson)

Catherine Lamer FUCHS (by Jean Rae Fox Baxter)

Isaac GILBERT (by Nancy Cutway)

Michael GRASS of Kingston (by Bradley Grass)

Michael GRASS and Ancestors (by Glen Grass)

Michael GRASS of Grantham (by Bradley Grass)

Michael GRASS of Grantham (by Mark Bailey)

Joseph HICKS (by Terry Hicks)

John HOWARD (by Henry Roenke)

Benjamin INGRAHAM (by Earle and Faith Thomas)

Lady JOHNSON (by Earle Thomas)

Robert Harold JOHNSTON, WWI Soldier (by Nancy Cutway)

KAST-McGINNISS Family (by Catherine Evans)

Mahlon KNIGHT (by Barbara Cruchon)

William LOSEE (by Anonymous)

MACAULAY Family (by Agnes Etherington Art Centre)

Finlay MALCOLM (by Dean G. Taylor)

MALCOLM Family (by Dean G. Taylor)

Lawrence McKENZIE (by Bruce Murduck)

Henry MERKLEY (by Audrey Bailey)

MINK Family (by Philip Smart)

NICHOLSON-McKIM Family (by Lynn Bell)

PURDY Family (by Doreen Hooper O’Brien)

RANCIER/RANSIER Family (by Jean Carson)

Christian RISELAY UE and the THOMPSON Family (by Marion Thompson)

Henry SIMMONS (by Russell Simmons)

Patrick and George SMYTH (by Wentworth Smith)

Benjamin BABCOCK UE and STEEVES Family (by Marguerite Colpitts)

John STINSON (by William Stinson)

Joel STONE (by Earle Thomas)

George STORRING (by Doris Wemp)

Rev John STUART (by Okill Stuart)

Peter VALLEAU (by Nora Valleau)

Daniel WALKER (by Lilyan Durkee)

Abraham WARTMAN (by Clara Snook)

Abraham WARTMAN (by John Sigsworth)

John WAYLAND (by Bev Loomis)

John WEES (by Jim Long)

Pvt. Oswald WEMP, WWI (by Herb D. Wemp and Doris Wemp)