UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS' ASSOCIATION

COLONEL EDWARD JESSUP BRANCH

39th CHARTER MEETING & DINNER

Topic: "Battle Monuments and Cemeteries in Europe"

39^th Charter Meeting Colonel Edward Jessup Branch

United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada

The Colonel Edward Jessup Branch of the UELAC held their 39^th Charter Meeting at the Grenville Snowmobile Club, on Saturday Nov. 3, 2007. Fifty-four members and friends enjoyed a delicious roast beef meal provided by the Snowmobile Club.

Elizabeth Nicole Crain, 5, and her brother Gregory William Crain, 3, (children of Wil and Leanne Crain) were the proud recipients of United Empire Loyalist certificates to honour their eight generation exalted ancestor, Captain Joseph Brant.

Left click on the thumbnail for larger picture.

Photo by Leanne Crain

"I can still remember Wil sitting at our dining table announcing he was a Joseph Brant descendant", recalls their grandmother (Diane Brown of Prescott). "I nearly fell off the chair with excitement!" As soon as the young couple left, a quick search on the internet brought up a picture of Brant and "Wil's eyes were staring back at me". The search was on. Proving Native ancestry is often a difficult and arduous job and these certificates were the result of nearly six years of research . The link between each generation must be proven with birth/death certificates or census records. Early tribes moved around and were very social with families intermingling. Add to that the general distrust of why people are looking for information on their family and it is easy to see the stumbling blocks encountered.

Joseph Brant is a legend, a man well ahead of his time. He was Chief among his people and a fierce, courageous fighter, joining the Loyalists cause for Britain when he was just thirteen. He was also a complex man, a scholar in a white man's school, a translator, and a man of religion. He saw his people re-settled in Canada after a personal visit to the King George III's court. Perhaps his greatest achievement though was translating the whole Bible into the Mohawk language for his people. It is easy to see why having him on the family tree is a cause for excitement. Many claim descendancy but very, very few have been able to prove it.

Beth and Greg were two of seventeen recipients of certificates at the Charter Meeting of the Col. Edward Jessup Branch of the United Empire Loyalists, on Saturday at the Grenville Snowmobile Club.

Myrtle Johnston, President, presented certificates to Wil, Elizabeth and Greg Crain for Joseph Brant; Lyle, Lisa and Drew Johnston for Timothy Buell; Ronald Michelle, Alicia and Carina Grand for John Wiltse; John, Colin and Michael Davis for Thomas Knowlton;  Glenda Wood for Dayle Selleck; Laurel and Heather Haynes for Benjamin Kilborn, Joseph Haynes, Asael Wright and Joseph White and Jean Clark for David Hunter. It is easy to see why this Loyalist branch continues to grow.

 It was a day filled with memories for all but stars still shine in the eyes of these little people.

By Diane Brown

Photos Courtesy of Fraser Carr