There is a wealth of Loyalist History preserved in this archive in downtown Prescott, Ontario.

GCHS has a rich collection of Primary Sources. Prescott was founded by Col. Edward Jessup and the town is located between Royal Township #7 (Augusta) and Royal Township #6 (Edwardsburgh). Loyalist settlers are well documented in community histories, on early maps, and in local land, census, cemetery and church records.

The Society has preserved and indexed local church records, the earliest being 1821 Presbyterian listing from St. Andrew’s Church. Land records on microfilm and the index to wills held in the nearby Registry office have also been used to find the documentation required for UEL status.

Shelves have been stocked with many Secondary Sources as well. A large collection of transcribed Birth, Marriage and Death records written by Reverends Bethune, Blakey and Smart and several shelves of Loyalist resource books assist searchers.

Prominent among the genealogical files are many Loyalist names such as: Adams, Breakenridge Bottum, Campbell, Fraser, Jackson, Livingston, McLean, Munro, Sherwood and Spicers - many who served with Jessup’s Rangers. Palatine families like the Embury and Dulmages, are well represented among those who with Barbara Heck founded the first Methodist church in Canada. (The Blue Church is located west of Prescott in what was surveyed in 1784 to be the townsite of New Oswegatchie.) See their website for a complete list of files.

Four shelves of family histories, many privately published, deal with Loyalist lines as do anthologies such as Edwardsburgh: Family Histories, Pioneer People and Places, The Families of Leeds and Grenville and Our Loyalist Ancestors.

Three of the volunteers who staff the archives, proudly bear UE after their names and are well acquainted with Loyalist research and anxious to assist you.

Queries can be mailed or emailed and will be answered for a modest fee. If you can do your research in person, the charge is only $1.00 per hour. The archive is open every Tuesday excluding holidays, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and Weekdays during July and August.

Click on the thumbnail print.