February 1989
Grand River Branch
Grand River Branch Loyalist Library – 1988:
Grand River Branch gratefully acknowledges the heritage grant from the Minister of Culture and Communications which enabled us to donate a further $350.00 to The Norfolk Historical Society for Loyalist Library. William Yeager, Curator of Eva Brook Donly Museum, Simcoe, which houses the collection, acknowledged our donation and stated:
“This has certainly made a real contribution in terms of providing the incentive to build up the library here. Even a few hundred dollars of extra funding committed to archives and fee from pressures to use for other funding needs makes a significant difference.
We decided to use $350.00 to continue to expand the highly useful Upper Canada Land Petitions microfilms collection that we added to from the 1987 UEL donation. This is prime Loyalist material, and we aim to eventually complete the films. At present we have the petitions from 1785 up to 1830.”
Grand River Branch would like to see a sign “Loyalist Library” acknowledging our contribution on the wall in the Archives Reading Room. Visible recognition is desirable. The Ministry of Culture and Communication will provide half the cost of a plaque, up to $400.00. Do you have any suggestions how we might raise the other $400.00 plus? Books of genealogical interest and cash donations are welcomed by Norfolk Historical Society. Income tax receipts will be issued.
Memorial Books:
Memorial books donated by the Branch to Loyalist Library in memory of deceased Members are inscribed with the members’ names.
A Minute’s silence was observed at the November meeting in remembrance of these Loyal members and friends.
The YOUNG Family was honoured by a donation by Dr. Murray Young, Cayuga, who presented two copies of The Young (Jung) Families of the Mohawk Valley compiled by Clifford Young, 1947. one copy will be donated to Loyalist Library and one copy it will be included in our Branch library.
On September 18, 1988, at the Grand River Branch, United Empire Loyalist meeting, Rev. James W. Files, U.E.L., presented an updated family chart of Loyalist Chief Joseph Brant to Percy W. Brant, a direct descendant of Joseph Brant. Both the Brant and Files Family lived in Upstate New York during the American Revolution and fought together on the British side. Later, branches of both families settled in Brant County and assisted in forming a mosaic pattern of Indians and whites along the Grand River in Brant and Haldimand Counties.
July 1989
Grand River Branch – There was a twist of irony at the dedication ceremony of ‘Loyalist Lane’ at the Taquanyah Nature Centre, Decewsville, on Sunday, August 21, 1988, in that, the colour bearers, though descendant form 18th Century Loyalists were citizens of the U.S.A. – Robert Sherk with Loyalist “Queen Anne” flag and Robert A. Sherk, with the “Maple leaf” flag. The son and grandson of Oneida Township native Helen (Young) Sherk, they are respectively, eight and nine generations removed from a migrant United Empire Loyalist family. Others are: Gary Cooper of Cambridge, President of Grand River Branch U.E.L., Catherine Shaw of Simcoe, feature speaker of the day, who ceremoniously ‘mulched’ one of the newly-planted Loyalist Lane trees; and Doris Lemon of Waterloo, Secretary of the group. submitted by: Doris A. Lemon.
From the Haldimand Press: August 25, 1988
December 1989
Grand River Branch
Do you have Loyalist Roots in the Grand River and Norfolk County regions of Ontario?
To those who have Loyalist beginnings in this historically rich area of southern Ontario, the decision of the Grand River Branch of the U.E.L. Association of Canada to proceed with the publication of a book on the Loyalist families of the region should be welcomed with keen enthusiasm. The need for such a publication has been recognized for many years. The book will follow the general format and style used so successfully by the Hamilton U.E.L. branch in its Loyalist Families of the Hamilton Region published as one of its Bi-Centennial projects. The documentation for each family will include an approved family tree supported by an explanatory narrative. Encouraged will be the submission also of supplemental materials, such as family stories and anecdotes of the early Loyalist period, sketches, pictures, letters, photos of artifacts, etc., which should make for more interesting reading while strengthening the educational value of the book as a living history of Loyalist happenings.
Publication of this most important record of regional Loyalist history is planned to coincide with the 1991 celebrations of the founding of Upper Canada.