UC-NRLF 
 
**Btiy. 
 
 VOLUME XVI 
 
 rR OM THE PRESENT'S orEICE 
 UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Number 27 
 
 The 
 Ohio State University 
 Bulletin 
 
 The Legacy of the American Revolution 
 to the British West Indies and Bahamas 
 
 A Chapter out of the History of the 
 American Loyalists 
 
 April, 19i: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY AT COLUMBUS 
 
 Entered as second-class matter November 17, 1905, at the postoffice 
 bus, Ohio, under Act of Congress, July '6, 1894 
 
The 
 
 Legacy of the American Revolution 
 
 to the 
 
 British West Indies and Bahamas 
 
 A Chapter out of the History of the 
 American Loyalists 
 
 BY 
 
 WILBUR H. SIEBERT, A. M 
 
 Professor of European History 
 
 Published by 
 
 The Ohio State University 
 
 Columbus 
 
 1913 
 
V* 
 
 17 
 
 
 Copyrighted, 1913, b}- 
 Wilbur H. Siebert 
 
Contents 
 
 I. THE LOYALISTS IN EAST FLORIDA 
 
 Pack 
 The organization of loyalist regiments in and for East Florida 6 
 Number of refugees in East Florida increased by the evacua- 
 tion of Savannah . . 7 
 
 Further increase of East Florida's population on the evacua- 
 tion of Charleston 8 
 
 St. Augustine experiences a visitation of loyal Indians 9 
 
 Attitude of the British government towards the Indians. ... 10 
 Unwillingness of loyalist regiments to remove from East 
 Florida 11 
 
 II. THE LOYALISTS IN WEST FLORIDA 
 
 West Florida as a refuge for loyalists 11 
 
 Loyalist defenders of West Florida 12 
 
 What became of the loyalists of West Florida 13 
 
 III. THE EMIGRATION OF LOYALISTS 
 TO JAMAICA 
 
 Early movement of refugees to the West Indies and Bahamas. 1 4 
 
 Emigration from Savannah to Jamaica and other places. ... 14 
 
 Emigration from Charleston to Jamaica 15 
 
 Incompleteness of our information concerning the loyalist 
 
 emigration from East Florida to Jamaica 15 
 
 Exodus from Honduras, the Mosquito Shore, and other places 
 
 to Jamaica 16 
 
 IV. THE LOYALISTS IN THE BAHAMAS 
 
 Spain gains and loses the Bahamas 16 
 
 Efforts to retain East Florida as an asylum for the loyalists. 17 
 
 3 
 
 () S U L of A R 2 
 
 342077 
 
Pagk 
 Visit to New Providence by intending settlers and by Lieu- 
 tenant Wilson , 1 8 
 
 Report by Lieutenant Wilson on the availability of the Ba- 
 hamas for colonization 19 
 
 Movement of loyalists from East Florida to the Bahamas, 
 
 i7 8 3- x 7 8 5 19 
 
 Colonization of Great Abaco Island by loyalists 20 
 
 Increase in population of the Bahamas by immigration of 
 
 the loyalists 22 
 
 Adventures of Colonel David Fanning 22 
 
 Conditions in the Island of Great Abaco 24 
 
 Effects of the loyalist immigration on political conditions in 
 
 the Bahamas . . . . , 25 
 
 Effects of the movement on the commercial conditions in the 
 
 islands . 26 
 
 Effects on agriculture in the islands 27 
 
 How plantation life in the Bahamas was affected by the loyal- 
 ists . . 29 
 
 Attitude of Parliament towards slavery in the Bahama Islands 31 
 
 The Wylly affair 31 
 
 The struggle over an improved slave code for the Bahamas. . 33 
 The end of slavery in the islands 33 
 
 V. THE LOYALISTS IN JAMAICA 
 
 Sir John Temple's plan to colonize the loyalists in Porto 
 
 Ric^ 34 
 
 Legislation in Jamaica for the benefit of the loyalists 35 
 
 Protest against the new legislation by older inhabitants of 
 
 Jamaica 36 
 
 Distribution of loyalists in Jamaica 37 
 
 States from which the} 7 came, and classes represented among 
 
 them , 38 
 
 Experiences of Dr. William Martin Johnson and his family 
 
 before and after settling in Jamaica 39 
 
 Life of the loyalists in Jamaica and the other British West 
 
 Indies 41 
 
 Slavery in Jamaica 43 
 
 4 
 
VI. THE LOSSES AND COMPENSATION OF 
 THE LOYALISTS IN THE ISLANDS 
 
 Page 
 
 Losses of loyalist settlors in the islands illustrated by those 
 of many refugees in Jamaica 44 
 
 Parliament's measures for the relief of the claimants from 
 East Florida 45 
 
 Compensation of individual refugees in the islands , . . 46 
 
 Appointment of loyalists to office in the islands 47 
 
The Legacy of the American Revolution 
 to the British West Indies and Bahamas 
 
 A Chapter out of the History of the 
 American Loyalists 
 
 I. The Loyalists in East Florida 
 
 From the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Hast Florida 
 served as a retreat for loyalist refugees from the Carolinas and 
 Georgia. As early as 1776, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Brown, 
 himself a fugitive from Savannah, formed a regiment, in whole or 
 in part, of these refugees, which he called the East Florida 
 Rangers. This he supplemented in the spring of 1778, by engag- 
 ing three hundred and fifty men from the same colonies to defend 
 the frontiers of the peninsula. These men were organized at 
 first into a regiment known as the South Carolina Royalists under 
 the command of Colonel Innes, and the next year were re-organ- 
 ized as a regiment of infantry under the title of the King's 
 Rangers. 1 They formed part of the English force in East Florida, 
 as recounted by a deserter on his arrival at Charleston in the early 
 summer of the same year, a force which, he said, also included 
 eight hundred regular troops, one hundred Florida Rangers, one 
 hundred and fifty provincial militia, and two hundred Indians.' 2 
 All told Colonel Brown enlisted as many as twelve hundred men, 
 if we may credit his own statement in a letter to Sir Guy Carle- 
 ton, and of these he proudly asserted that five hundred were 
 killed in the course of the constant and distant service in which 
 he and his men were engaged throughout the War. 8 Doubtless 
 most of his recruits were gathered in Georgia and the Carolinas, 
 where he conducted his campaigns. 
 
 1. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. hist, of G. Brit., Ill, 322, 323; 
 McCall, History of Georgia, 72. 
 
 2 . M c Cal 1 , History of Georgia , 42 1 . 
 
 3. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., Ill, 323. 
 
 6 
 
The loyalist element in East Florida was greatly increased by 
 the evacuations of Savannah and Charleston. The former event 
 occurred in July, 1782, 7,000 persons being turned adrift between 
 the twelfth and twenty-fifth of that month. This host was made 
 up of twelve hundred British regulars and loyalists, five hundred 
 women and children, three hundred Indians, and five thousaud 
 negroes. Three months later, Patrick Tonyn, governor of East 
 Florida, wrote Carleton that the number of settlers in his province 
 previous to the surrender of Georgia was "about a thousand and 
 near three thousand blacks, "that the militia numbered about three 
 hundred, and that some five hundred of the negroes might be 
 entrusted with arms. "The Refugees from Georgia," he said, 
 "are about fifteen hundred whites and a thousand negroes; there 
 are a few respectable families but they consist chiefly of back- 
 woodsmen who are intolerably indolent; perhaps about four 
 hundred may be found fit to bear arms, but their appearance is 
 against them, their families are in distress, and they are exceed- 
 ingly dissatisfied. The provincial corps no doubt may be com- 
 pleted from them." 1 
 
 Prompt measures were taken to alleviate the condition of 
 these people and to ascertain fully their number. Already, 
 Colonel Brown was engaged in pointing out lands to them and 
 establishing them in settlements on the St. John's River, and 
 Brigadier-General Archibald McArthur, who was in command in 
 East Florida, soon designated a committee of four of the principal 
 refugees — Colonels Ball and Cassells for the Carolinas and Colonels 
 Tattnall and Douglas for Georgia to take a census of them and to 
 superintend the distribution of provisions among them. By the 
 end of October, their numbers were not yet fully ascertained, for 
 not all had been able to land on account of the bad weather and 
 the dangerous bar in the harbor of St. Augustine. 2 Meanwhile, 
 an inspector of refugees seemed a necessity, and John Winniett 
 was appointed to that office. His first report covered arrivals 
 from July to the thirteenth of November, 1782, exclusive of those 
 
 1 . Report 011 the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst. o/G. Brit., Ill, 163, 164 
 
 2. Ibid., 140, 192. 
 
who had come in before that period, and showed a total of 3,340 
 refugees and slaves. 1 
 
 Although the evacuation of Charleston did not occur until 
 December 24, numbers of loyalists, military and civilian, were 
 already being sent from that place to St. Augustine by the 
 middle of the previous month. Among these were the North 
 and South Carolina regiments, the King's Rangers, and a body 
 of refugees, described as "distinguished loyalists" by Governor 
 Tonyn, many of whom, he said, were substantial merchants and 
 planters. He accommodated the merchants with houses in town 
 and placed the planters on lands, which, although previously 
 granted by the Crown, had not been cultivated, as required by 
 the terms of the grant; 2 and as provisions were being supplied by 
 the government, the chief need of the new settlers was plantation 
 tools. This was the cause of considerable anxiety on the part of 
 the provincial authorities, and so also was the tendency of the 
 refugees to concentrate in St. Augustine and at a place on the St. 
 John's River known as the Bluff. Both Governor Tonyn and 
 General McArthur exerted themselves to prevent this concentra- 
 tion. 8 By the middle of December, Charleston passed into the 
 possession of the Americans and witnessed the unhappy departure 
 of 9,121 persons, not counting the troops. Of this number 3,826 
 embarked for East Florida, 1,615 being whites and 2,211 blacks. 
 On December 23, Inspector Winniett submitted a second enumer- 
 ation of the refugees and their slaves from Georgia and the 
 Carolinas: according to its figures, the whites now numbered 
 2,428 and the negroes 3,609, making a total of 6,037.^ B\- this 
 time, the loyalists who had come with the first convoy were 
 forming their settlements in the country, and the much needed 
 tools were being supplied them. One division of the fleet of 
 transports, under escort of the Bellisarius, was reported to have 
 brought in a thousand loyalists and fifteen hundred negroes. In 
 
 1. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., III. 216. 
 
 2. Ibid., 64, 112, 220. 
 
 3. Ibid., Ill, 224. 
 
 4. South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Jan., 1910; 
 Mass. Historical Society Miscellaneous Papers, iy6g-i/C>j, l', 139; McCradv 
 History of South Carolina, 674. 
 
 5. Report on the Am. Mss in the Roy. Inst, of G . Brit., HI, 276. 
 
disembarking, some small craft were lost "owing to their rashness 
 in venturing over the bar without sufficient guides." 1 A similar 
 fate awaited nine of the vessels in the train of the Bellisarius, when 
 she arrived off the bar on her return trip on December 3] . Of the 
 1,300 passengers aboard this fleet, but four were lost. 2 Inspector 
 Winniet completed a third enumeration before these 1,300 landed; 
 but as its figures are unknown, we are only sure of the minimum 
 number of arrivals in East Florida during the period from July, 
 1782, to the end of the same year, namely, over 7,30c 3 That 
 this number is far short of the actual gain in the population of 
 the province through the incoming of the loyalists is indicated by 
 the contrasted statements of Governor Tonyn and General McAr- 
 thur. In October, 1782, as we have already seen, the former 
 gave the population as about 1,000 whites and 2,000 blacks before 
 the emigration from Georgia. Seven months later, that is, in 
 May, 1783, his military colleague stated that the population was 
 about 16,000, the proportion between the two races being 
 nearly three blacks to two whites. By this time, it was 
 known of course that the province was to be surrendered to 
 Spain. If, on the other hand, it had been retained, and the large 
 land grants to absentees could be abolished, McArthur thought 
 that East Florida would soon flourish through the presence of 
 the great number of people lately arrived. He reported that 
 since the evacuation of Charleston, a little town, regularly laid 
 out, was forming at the Bluff on St. John's River, which would 
 have soon risen to consequence on account of the harbor being 
 safer there than at St. Augustine. As St. Mary's River possessed 
 the same advantage, he was convinced that numbers of people 
 would have formed a town there also. 4 However, these were 
 prophesies that were not to be fulfilled under loyalist auspices. 
 
 In the midst of their labors for the disembarking multitudes, 
 the provincial officers were destined to experience a visitation of 
 Indians from far and near. The question of provisions was 
 already a pressing one when this visitation took place in the lat- 
 ter part of December, 1782. Not only hundreds of Cherokees, 
 Creeks, and Choctaws came to St. Augustine, but also a great 
 deputation from Detroit, on behalf of the Northern Indian nations. 
 
 1. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of (I JU it., Ill, 276. 
 
 2. Ibid., 319, 395. 
 
 3. Ibid., 294, 320. 
 
 4. Ibid., Il', 9 j, 9 «. 
 
 9 
 
According to Tonyn, this deputation comprised representatives of 
 the Mohawks, Senecas, Delawares, Shawnees, Mingoes, Tuscara- 
 was, and other tribes. The Cherokee delegation numbered twelve 
 hundred and that of the Choctaws and Chicesaws, six hundred. 1 
 We can only surmise what may have been the size of the North- 
 ern deputation. Fortunately, they came on a peaceful mission, 
 professing themselves firmly attached to the king's interest and 
 commissioned to confirm the southern tribes in the same senti- 
 ments. 2 Conferences followed between these people and the 
 Indian department, in which the Indians made it clear that they 
 considered their engagements with England as having been ful- 
 filled, and hoped that they would not be abandoned by the great 
 King. Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, who was superintendent of 
 Indian affairs, gave assurances of Britain's continued attachment 
 to her allies, and recommended them to desist from further offen- 
 sive operations and to devote themselves to hunting and trading. 
 He also obtained promises from the Cherokees that they would 
 remove their towns at once to a greater distance from the fron- 
 tiers of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas, so as to be less 
 exposed to attack. Meantime, he managed to keep all of his 
 visitors well supplied with provisions, and he did not forget to 
 distribute presents among them with an unstinted hand. Being 
 well satisfied with their cordial reception, the assembled warriors 
 soon departed with minds at ease. 3 
 
 If the situation in regard to the Indians was felt to be criti- 
 cal by the officers in East Florida — and it undoubtedly was — the 
 English government also felt some trepidation about the attitude 
 the red men in that province would assume when they should 
 learn of the intended cession of this region to Spain. Accordingly, 
 in February, 1783, orders were sent from Whitehall to Colo- 
 nel Brown to have all the officers of his department withdraw 
 with the traders from the Indian country and to distribute to its 
 denizens all presents remaining in the stores at St. Augustine. 4 
 This looked as though Great Britain regarded her account with 
 r. Report on the Am. J/ss. in the Roy. Inst, oj G. Brit., III. 325, 334 
 
 2. Ibid., 277, 316, 322. 
 
 3. Ibid., 325, 326, 334, 367. 
 
 4. /dicf., 35 8. 
 
the Florida Indians as virtually closed. That the Indians them- 
 selves did not so regard it is shown by General Mc Arthur's com- 
 ments concerning them in a letter to Carleton of May 19, 1783. 
 He wrote: "The minds of these people appear as much agitated 
 as those of the loyalists on the eve of a third evacuation ; and 
 however chimerical it may appear to us, they have very seriously 
 proposed to abandon their country and accompany us, having 
 made all the world their enemies by their attachment to us." ! 
 
 Colonel Brown, who wrote to the same effect, also testified 
 to the past faithfulness of his proteges, and asked for vessels to 
 remove them. He received assurance that those who persevered 
 in their demand would be furnished with conveyance to the 
 Bahamas; but they were to be dissuaded, if possible, on the score 
 that the islands were not a suitable place for them. This was 
 more easily said than done, for after an interval of several months, 
 McArthur still felt constrained to write (September 13, 17CS3) of 
 his apprehensions that man}' of the Indians would insist on accom- 
 panying him to the Bahamas. 2 
 
 The provincial regiments in East' Florida did not accept as 
 readily the prospect of their removal. This was largely due to 
 the insinuations that reached them through irresponsible persons, 
 namely, that they were to be sent off to the East and West Indies 
 without their consent. The spread of these rumors almost pro- 
 duced a mutiny among the troops, and they demanded their dis- 
 charge. However, they were promptly reduced to obedience, and 
 the ringleaders were punished. Later, they were assured that 
 there was no intention of deporting them, and that every man 
 was to have the liberty of going where he pleased, indeed, of 
 placing himself under the rule of Spain or the United States, if he 
 chose. 3 
 
 II. The Loyalists in West Florida 
 
 West Florida was out of range of the swarms of provincial 
 troops, refugees, and negroes sent down to her sister province; 
 but she was by no means devoid of loyal inhabitants, and she 
 received a considerable accession of incorporated loyalists and 
 
 1. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., //', 89. 
 
 2. Ibid. 
 
 3. Ibid, 90, 165. 
 
 II 
 
 O 8 U L of A R a 
 
other refugees from the colonies farther north. Certain planters 
 of the province presented a petition to the House of Commons in 
 March, 1787, in which they stated that many of their fellow colo- 
 nials had joined the King's troops, while the refugees in West 
 Florida had formed themselves into provincial corps and faced the 
 dangers of the field. 1 Among these refugees was Captain Rich- 
 ard Peavis, who after engaging four hundred men for service in 
 the peninsula was forced to flee, he tells us, from the vicinity of 
 Charleston to Pensacola, taking with him six companions. In 
 1777, he was commissioned a captain in the West Florida Loyal- 
 ists by Colonel Stuart, and was constantly employed thereafter 
 until he settled on St. John's River, East Florida, in 1783. 2 
 Doubtless, the corps which Captain Peavis joined was that offi- 
 cially styled the West Florida Loyal Refugees organized by 
 Colonel Charles Stuart, the superintendent of Indian affairs at 
 Pensacola, and disbanded at the end of November, 1779, by Major 
 General John Campbell, w r ho was in command in the province. ' d 
 In the following year, however, General Campbell found it expe- 
 dient to enroll a new corps known as the West Florida Royal 
 Foresters. This troop remained in service until its reduction, 
 August 15, 1782. Evidently, the Foresters were organized about 
 the time the Spanish attack on Pensacola w r as expected, which 
 was as early as May, 1780. 4 That the attack did not take place 
 at this time was parti} 7 due, Campbell thought, to the presence of 
 a large body of Indians, which had been assembled in the town 
 for its protection. 5 
 
 But the defense of West Florida did not fall alone upon the 
 Indians and the Royal Foresters. Campbell had under his com- 
 mand other forces, including the third battalion of the Sixtieth 
 Regiment, the third regiment of the Waldeck troops, and the 
 United Corps of Pennsylvania and Maryland Loyalists — the last 
 numbering two hundred and sixty-seven men, with Lieutenant- 
 Colonel William Allen at their head. He also had a company of 
 Military Batteauxmen, probably loyalists, under Captain Miller. 6 
 
 1. Journals cj 'the House of Commons, 27 Geo. Ill, Vol. XL//, 551, 552. 
 
 2. Report of the Bureau of Archives, Out., PL I, 190, 191. 
 
 3. Report on the Am. J/ss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., II, 159, 160. 
 
 4. Ibid., IV, 445- 
 
 5. Ibid., II I2i f 122. 
 
 6. Ibid., Ill 169, 170. 
 
 12 
 
According to General Campbell, these troops had been left 
 without an adequate supply of cannon and artillery stores; but 
 they nevertheless held out for nearly two months after Don Galves 
 and his Spanish fleet entered the harbor of Pensacola. When, 
 however, a well directed shot from the blockading force exploded 
 the powder magazine, the place capitulated, May 9, 1781. 1 
 
 What became of the loyalists of West Florida at this time is 
 difficult to discover. We are told that part of the garrison of 
 Pensacola w r as sent to New York; 2 and we have information of the 
 arrival in London of a party of the Maryland and Pennsylvania 
 Loyalists under the command of Lieutenant Inglis. This party 
 was made up of invalids w 7 ho desired admission to the military 
 hospital at Chelsea and set sail from Pensacola for that destina- 
 tion in the early months of 1780. 8 Before the evacuation of the Xew 
 York, nearly three and a half years later, the larger part of the 
 Maryland Loyalists sailed in the; ship Martha with the fall fleet for 
 the Bay of Fund}' to settle in Nova Scotia; but their vessel was 
 wrecked, late in September, 1783, off Tusket River, and over one 
 hundred lives were lost. "It is recorded," says Paul Leicester 
 Ford, "that the troop stood drawn up in company order, while 
 the women and children were ordered into the boats, and the few 
 survivors among the men were chiefly saved by clinging to 
 wreckage." 4 In an undated list of persons who embarked for 
 Nova Scotia, probably aboard the fated transport, we find the 
 names of Lieutenant-Colonel James Chalmers, organizer of the 
 troop, and Lieutenant-Colonel William Allen of the Pennsylvania 
 Lovalists. 5 Captain Adam Chrystie of the Foresters was still in 
 Xew York City, November 3, when he signed a petition for a 
 grant of land in Nova Scotia. 8 Captain Richard Peavis of the 
 West Florida Refugees found himself doomed to leave his place of 
 settlement on the St. John's River, East Florida, and betook 
 
 1. Report on the Am. Jfss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., II, 2<Sr, 286, 
 
 5i4, 515- 
 
 2. Orderly Rook of the "Maryland Loyalists Regiment" 12, n. 
 
 3. Report on the Am. Jfss. in the Roy. Inst. ofG. Rril., If, 109, no, 
 
 150. 
 
 4. Orderly Rook of the "Maryland Loyalists Regiments' 1 11; Report 
 on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., f I ', 380, 409, 420, 440. 
 
 5. Report on the Am. Jfss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Rril., IT, 479, 105. 
 
 6. Ibid., //', 443- 
 
 13 
 
himself to the Island of Abaco in the Bahamas. ! A few others 
 from West Florida, with their slaves, arrived in Jamaica during 
 the summer of 1783, settling chiefly in Kingston, according to 
 the parish records of that island. While these are only scattered 
 instances, they serve to illustrate the vicissitudes of the loyalists 
 of West Florida after the conquest of that province by Spain. 
 
 III. The Emigration of Loyalists to Jamaica 
 
 East Florida escaped subjugation by the Spaniards, but 
 nevertheless shared the fate of the adjoining district when Eng- 
 land made peace with Spain. By the treaty of Versailles, the 
 latter country gained both provinces, but the loyalists preferred 
 the hardships of another removal rather than submit to Spanish 
 rule. During the earlier years of the Revolution, refugees had 
 taken shelter under the British flag in Jamaica and the Bahamas. 
 
 \ In October, 1775, one of the London papers gave currency to 
 the item that several American families had arrived in Jamaica 
 with their effects ' 'on account of troubles in their own country. ' ' 2 
 
 -^When Sir James Wright, governor of Georgia, fled to England 
 
 ^111 March, 1776, a considerable number of Georgia loyalists took 
 their departure to the West Indies and Bahamas. It is true that 
 some of these returned after Governor Wright resumed his office 
 in the spring of 1777, but not all of them did so. 3 
 
 When in July, 1782, Savannah was evacuated, less than half 
 of the 7,000 persons who withdrew from that port went to East 
 Florida; Governor Wright, with some of the officers, civil and 
 military, and part of the garrison, disembarked at Charleston; 
 Brigadier-General Alured Clark and part of the British regulars 
 went to New York; and the remainder — described as inhabitants 
 
 ' and their effects — sailed to Jamaica under convoy of the frigate 
 Zebra. i Doubtless, these effects were mostly slaves, for Mr. 
 Wright and some of his fellow loyalists had no less than two 
 thousand for shipment to the island. The Governor explained 
 afterwards that he considered Jamaica the best market for his 
 VJ-f Report oj the Bureau of Archives, Out., PL, I, 190, 191. 
 
 2. Lloyd's Evening Post, Oct. 4-6, 1775. 
 
 3. Report of the Bureau of Archives, Out., Pt. II, 1305; Audit Office 
 Claims, IV, Public Records Office, London. 
 
 4. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., Ill, 65, 126. 
 
 14 
 

 negroes, and that they were in danger of being stolen at Savan- 
 nah. 1 Probably, much more of the same kind of property was 
 transported to the same destination. At any rate, Bridges tells 
 us in his Annals of Jamaica 1 that the island gained nearly 5,000, 
 besides four hundred white families, by the evacuation of 
 Savannah. 
 
 ^v. When, inJDecember, 1782, Charleston was surrendered to the 
 
 Americans, 3,891 persons embarked for Jamaica, of whom 1,278 
 were whites and 2,613 were blacks. At the same time, twenty 
 whites and three hundred and fifty blacks sailed for St. Luci a. v 
 It will be remembered that the number carried from Charleston 
 to East Florida was almost equal to that destined for Jamaica. 
 Of the remainder, two hundred and forty sailed for New York, 
 four hundred and seventy, for Halifax, and three hundred and 
 twentyfour, for England. 8 
 
 What the result of the exodus from East Florida may have 
 been for Jamaica and the other West Indies is not clear. At the 
 end of July, 1782, some of the Georgia refugees at St. Augustine 
 memoralized Carleton, informing him that there were at least 
 4000 people of both races from their colon}' in their neighborhood, 
 and that they regarded the West Indies as the only region where 
 they could employ their slaves to any advantage. 4 But we have 
 no means of ascertaining how many of these people found their 
 way to the desired destination. The same uncertainty appertains 
 to the various families in New York City who were seeking con- 
 > veyance to these islands during the years 1782 and 1783. 5 That 
 a considerable proportion of them succeeded in reaching their goal 
 admits of little doubt. Sabine gives several instances of Massa- . ^ 
 chusetts Tories who settled in Antigua and St. Christop hers. 6 
 Near the close of May, 1783, eighty-five persons registered at 
 St. Augustine to go to Jamaica, and a ship with these refugees, 
 
 1. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., Ill, 28; Re- 
 port of the Bureau of Archives, Out., PL II ,i8o6.\^ 
 
 2. P. 190. 
 
 3. South Carolina Historical Magazine, Jan., 1910, 26. W^ 
 
 4. Report on Am. Mss. in the Roy Inst, of G. J hit., Ill, 45. 
 
 5. Ibid., Ill 230, 260, 363, 365; IV, 161, 228, 234, 374, 399, 480; 
 Second Report of the Bureau of Archives, Out., Pt. II, 914, 929, 1132, 1133. 
 
 6. American Loyalists, 1847, 551, 587, 221. * . 
 
and probably others, sailed from that place for the island named 
 about the twenty-fifth of the following month. 1 
 
 Some of the new settlers in Jamaica came also from 
 Honduras and the Mosquito Shore, where the British had colonies 
 engaged in cutting logwood and mahogany. The Spanish had 
 long regarded these people as intruders in Central America, and 
 during the later \^ears of the Revolution attacked them with such 
 persistence as to drive them out. 2 Their certificates of loyalty 
 are still to be found among the official records of their chosen 
 retreat, and show that they arrived at various times during the 
 year 1783, some being accompanied by their slaves. Their num- 
 bers were sufficiently large to cause them to be mentioned in cer- 
 tain acts passed by the Assembly of Jamaica in 1783 and 1784. 3 
 The certificates also bear testimony to the fact that loyalists 
 continued to come to this island down to 1788 from both North- 
 ern and Southern states, albeit in very small numbers. Doubt- 
 less, Jamaica profited also by the dispersion of the 10,000 
 refugees who were sent from New York to Shelburne, Nova 
 Scotia, in the spring and fall of 1783. This dispersion took 
 place during the years from 1785 to 1788, inclusive; and we are 
 told by Mr. T. Watson Smith, author of "The Loyalists at 
 Shelbmne" a paper showing careful and extensive investigation, 
 that numbers of these exiles found their way not only to the 
 Canadas and Great Britain, but also to the West Indies. 4 The 
 above facts help to explain the remarkable increase in population 
 of Jamaica between the years 1775 and 1787. The census for the 
 former year showed 18,503 whites, 3,700 free colored people, and 
 190,914 slaves; while for the latter year the figures are 30,000 
 whites, 10,000 free colored people, and 250,000 slaves.'"' By 17S5 
 the number of slaves had already reached from 220,000 to 240, 
 ooo. 6 
 
 IV. The Loyalists in the Bahamas 
 
 During the greater part of the War — if we may trust our 
 evidence — the Bahamas benefitted but little by the misfortunes 
 
 1. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst. ofG. Brit., IV, 92, 93. 
 
 2. Morris, The Colony of British Honduras. 
 
 3. Acts of the Assembly of Jamaica, 1778-1783, 337; 1784-1791 , 32. 
 
 4. Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, 1787-8, 57, 63, 65 
 
 85, 86, 88. 
 
 D- 
 
 Gardner, History of Jamaica, 221. 
 
 6. Martin, History of the West Indies, I, 90. 
 
 16 
 
of the American refugees. Moreover, early in May, 1782, they 
 had the mishap to fall, like West Florida, into the hands of Spain. 
 But Spain was not able to keep them long, for in April, 1783, Ma- 
 jor Andrew DeVeaux, a provincial officer of South Carolina, left 
 St. Augustine with "a handful of ragged militia and five pri- 
 vateers' ' to recover New Providence. In this he succeeded, de- 
 spite the presence of five hundred Spaniards, seventy pieces of 
 cannon, and six galleys. This was the last episode of the Revo- 
 lutionary War, which thus closed with a British victory won by 
 American loyalists acting on their own motion. The irony of the 
 affair is enhanced by the circumstance that Deveaux's success 
 had been anticipated nine days before by England's treaty with 
 Spain, the fifth article of which restored the Bahama Islands to 
 Great Britain. 1 At the same time, the treaty deprived the loyal- 
 ists of the Floridas as a place of refuge, for it surrendered them 
 to the Spanish King The sole consolation of the Southern loyal- 
 ists was that the ill wind that swept them from their last retreat 
 on the mainland was to bear them to the neighboring islands, 
 including the Bahamas. 
 
 The first intimation of the intended evacuation of East 
 Florida reached Governor Ton)m as early as June, 1782, and 
 caused him much surprise and sorrow; while it produced nothing 
 less than consternation among the loyalists, both old inhabitants 
 and refugees. The Assembly of Georgia remonstrated against 
 the proposal, recommending that the territory be kept as an asy- 
 lum for the loyalists. The Assembly of East Florida asked 
 for some defense in case the troops should be withdrawn, and 
 resolved to stand by the Governor in preserving the allegiance 
 of the province. Tonyn took up with Carleton the question of 
 the removal of the garrison from St. Augustine, and secured his 
 consent to a delay. He was thus encouraged to hope that the 
 King would find a w r ay of retaining the province permanently, 
 and, doubtless, this hope was still further encouraged by Carle- 
 ton's instructions to grant lands free of quit rent to officers and 
 soldiers desirous of settling in East Florida on the establishment 
 of peace. - 
 
 1. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., IV, vi, vii, 
 93, 128, 169, i>47, 293, 351. 
 
 2. Ibid., II, 513, 520, 527, 52S, 529, 530, 531, 546; III, 19, 417. 
 
 17 
 
However, the publication of the peace rudely destroyed any 
 such expectations. It only left the loyalists a choice between 
 living under Spanish rule, which they greatly dreaded, and pre- 
 serving their fealty by withdrawing to some British possession. 
 By the eighth article of the treaty, those subjects of England 
 who proposed to remove were allowed eighteen mouths in which 
 to collect their debts, sell their property, and leave the country. 
 Tonyn received orders to cooperate with Mc Arthur in effecting 
 the evacuation in conformity with this provision, and made 
 proclamation accordingly. 1 Judging by the official correspondence 
 that has come down to us, these measures did not produce a marked 
 effect at once. We have already seen that a single ship was 
 sufficient to carry those who embarked at St. Augustine near the 
 end of June, 1783, for Jamaica. It may be added that two vessels 
 sufficed for those taking passage for England, and that while 
 ninety signed to go to New Providence, no reference is made to 
 their departure at this time. 2 This disinclination on the part of 
 the loyalists to proceed to the Bahamas was due to a lack of 
 information about the conditions obtaining ttiere. Hence, some 
 of the intending settlers of New Providence went to find out what 
 they could about these conditions, and were soon followed by 
 Lieutenant Wilson, of the Engineers, who was officially dispatched 
 from St. Augustine for the same purpose. The report made by 
 the_fonner was not very favorable, and is embodied in a letter 
 of McArthur of September 7: it represented that the soil 
 was-xocky and that there were "no tracts of land contiguous 
 where any considerable number of negroes could be employed." 
 On Wilson's return, he found instructions from Robert Morse, 
 chief engineer at New York, extending his tour of inspection to 
 all of the Bahamas, evidently in compliance with a request of 
 Carleton, who had recommended to the British goverment that 
 any lands ungranted or escheated in the islands be given free of 
 expense to those loyalists who had lost their property through 
 their allegiance, and should choose the Bahamas as a place of 
 settlement. 8 Lieutenant Wilson was therefore sent back to the 
 
 *\. Report on the Am. JIss. in the Roy. Inst. o/G. Brit., IV, 57, 93. 
 
 2. Ibid., IV, 92, 93. 
 
 3. Ibid., IV, 158,204, 233, 340, vii, 224, 233, 247, 248, 351. 
 
 18 
 
islands, and gathered the information for an extended report 
 that proved to' be more reassuring than that of the prospective 
 settlers in New Providence. 
 
 Indeed, this report left little doubt concerning the availability 
 of the Bahamas for colonization by the refugees. ' It ascribed the 
 uncultivated condition of the islands to the indolence of the 
 inhabitants, who contented themselves, it declared, with what- 
 ever nature produced by her unaided efforts. They took no trouble 
 to clear the land, but planted small patches of Guinea corn, 
 yams, and sugar cane, which they left without futher care until 
 the crop was ready to be gathered. It asserted that pineapples, 
 oranges lemons, limes, cocoa, and other fruits common to the 
 West Indies would readily grow in the Bahamas, and maintained 
 that the soil had never been put to a fair test, such as it would 
 now be subjected to by the new settlers. It did not attempt to 
 conceal the fact that the islands were rocky and the surface rough, 
 but called attention to the three kinds of soil existing there, one 
 adapted to the growth of cotton, another to the raising of vegeta- 
 bles of all kinds, and the third to the production of Guineacorn. ! 
 
 Reassuring as this report proved to be, it came too late to 
 start the movement of the loyalists from Florida to the Bahamas. 
 The event that gave the impetus to this movement was the arrival 
 of some government transports and victuallers at St. Augustine on^ 
 September 12, 1783. By this time many of the loyalists had be- 
 come convinced that they could no longer stand on the order of 
 their going, but must go at once. Two days later a number of 
 them applied to McArthur for conveyance to the islands for them- 
 selves and their negroes. 2 Unfortunately, we are left in ignor- 
 ance as to the success or failure of their application. But as Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Brown and most of his regiment of Hast Florida 
 Rangers, together with a few of the men of the North and South 
 Carolina regiments, made their decision in favor of the Bahamas 
 at this time, it is highly probable that conveyance was supplied 
 to all those desiring it. Of the North Carolina corps, however, 
 
 1. Stark, History and Guide to the Bahama Islands, 172, 173. — 
 
 2. Report on the Am. J/~ss. in the Roy. Inst. ofG. />rit. y I\\ 351, 356. 
 
 o S U L of a R 
 
more than half asked for passage to Nova Scotia, while nearly 
 two-thirds of the South Carolina corps chose to be discharged 
 from service in St. Augustine. 1 Although we catch but few 
 glimpses of what was taking place in East Florida during the 
 remainder of the time allowed for its evacuation, we can scarcely 
 doubt that parties of varying size, some in small vessels supplied 
 b»x -themselves, were embarking from time to time for the Bahamas 
 and the neighboring islands. This exodus was encouraged not 
 only by Wilson's report, and by the means of transportation 
 provided by the Crown, but also by the favorable conditions 
 offered to those whowished to settle in the archipe ago. 
 According to instructions issued to Lieutenant-Governor 
 Powell, September 10, 1784, he was to grant unoccupied lands in 
 the Bahamas as follows: "To every head of a family, fort}' acres, 
 and to every white or black man, woman or child in a family, 
 twenty acres, at an annual quit rent of 2s. per hundred acres. 
 But in the case of the Loyalist refugees from the continent such 
 lands w r ere to be delivered free of charges, and w r ere to be exempted 
 frolrfjthe burden of the quit rents for ten years from the date of 
 making the grants." These instructions were issued none too 
 soon, for only fifteen days afterwards a number of transports and 
 ordinance vessels arrived at Xassau w T ith the garrison and military 
 stores of St. Augustine. With this fleet came McArthur, whom 
 Carleton had placed in command of the Bahamas for the time 
 being. Within a few days there arrived also "seven ships and two 
 brigs crowded with refugees." We are told that the stream of 
 loyalists continued to pour into the islands during the early 
 months of the following year, Spain having extended by four 
 months the period allowed for the withdrawal of British subjects 
 from Florida. Even this concession proved barely sufficient, for 
 Governor Tonyn appropriated a few days of grace by making 
 announcement that the last transport would leave the port of St. 
 Mary's River, on March 1, 1785. He advised all persons of Eng- 
 lish blood to leave East Florida for the Bahamas before the Span- 
 ish governor took possession. - 
 
 1. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst. 0/ G. Brit., IV, 351. 
 
 2. Geographical Society of Baltimore, The Bahama Islands, 424; North- 
 croft, Sketches of Snmmerland, 281; Campbell, Histo/ical Sketches of 
 Colonial Florida, 142; Fairbanks, History of Florida, 239. 
 
 20 
 
But East Florida was not the only important source of the 
 multitudes coming to settle in the Bahama Islands during our 
 period. From New York City, Carleton sent more tnan i,4<x> 4 *V 
 persons, who had associated themselves to colonize the Island of 
 Abaco. On August 10, 1783, Brook Watson, commissary-general 
 at New York, reported that most of this party — or, in his own 
 words, "near a thousand souls" — were ready to embark. He 
 saw to it that they were supplied with provisions sufficient to 
 serve them for six months after their arrival, and recommended 
 Phillip Dumaresq, a Boston loyalist, as commissary to accompany 
 them and distribute the provisions. This recommendation was 
 carried into effect, and Dumaresq probably sailed with the first 
 contingent, which left New York sometime before August 22. 
 Other refugees embarked at the same time for Cat Island . 
 Carleton now shipped provisions for an additional six months, 
 and instructed Mc Arthur to do everything in his power for the 
 exiles. During the month of October, two additional contingents 
 of the associators got ready to sail, one of those numbering five 
 hundred and nine persons. All told, 1,458 loyalists embarked at 
 New York for Abaco, according to an official return of the Com- 
 missary-General, dated two days before the British troops evac- 
 uated that port. 1 This number does not include eight com- 
 panies of militia sent from New York to the Bahamas in October 
 17S3. 2 That Abaco derived part of its settlers from East Florida 
 is indicated by a memorial, addressed to Carleton in June of the 
 year just named, by some of the New York associators. This 
 memorial stated that many persons from St. Augustine were 
 expected to join the new colony, and another memorial, published 
 in New York about the same time, announced more explicitly 
 that the number of loyal inhabitants of East Florida who had 
 actually engaged to take part in the settlement of Abaco was 
 upwards of i,5oo. :5 On October 21, Carleton communicated to 
 Major-General Edward Mathew, commandant of the British 
 West Indies, that he expected adherents of the Crown to remove 
 from East Florida to the Bahamas during the following winter, 
 and oidered him to send six months provisiors for 2,000 men to 
 
 1. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Jn't., I\\ 470, 271, 
 272, 283, 407, 437, x. 
 
 2. I but., 398. 
 
 3. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of (7. Brit., Il\ 188 • 
 Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1870, 791. 
 
 21 
 
New Providence, in addition to the supplies that had been already 
 sent from New York. He hoped thus to provide a quantity 
 sufficient to subsist the new settlers until they should be able to 
 raise their own produce. 1 
 
 It is difficult to estimate the increase in population of the 
 Bahamas due to the immigration of the loyalists. Bryan Edwards, 
 writing at the beginning of the nineteenth century, does not 
 attempt it, but contents himself with telling us that the inhabitants 
 who in 1773 numbered 2,052 whites and 2,241 blacks were ''con- 
 siderably augmented" by the emigrants from North America. - 
 Northcroft, writing in 1900, is more positive: he states that be- 
 fore the emigration there were only 1,750 white people in the 
 colony and 2,303 colored; but that the influx of refugees raised 
 the number of the former to 3,500 and the latter to 6,50o. :i Dr. 
 Wright, who investigated the subject in 1905, seems to accept 
 these figures. 4 But, according to a census of 1782, in which seven of 
 the islands are named, the total number of inhabitants was 4,002, 
 less then one quarter being negroes. In the light of the evidence 
 presented in this paper, it seems safe to say that the Bahama 
 Islands gained between 6,000 and 7,000 inhabitants of both races 
 from June, 1783, to April, 1785. 
 
 One of those who came to the Bahamas later than most of 
 the others loyalists was Colonel David Fanning of North Car- 
 olina, who received his commission in the Loyal Militia of 
 Randolph and Chatham Counties in July, 1781. 5 It is true that 
 Colonel Fanning remained only a short time in the islands; but 
 his adventures between the evacuation of Charleston and his 
 arrival at Nassau, serve to illustrate vividly the vicissitudes of the 
 Southern refugees during this trying period. At the end of 
 September, 1782, Fanning and his wife were at Charleston, where 
 the shipping was ready for those desiring to embark for St. 
 
 1. Report on the Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., IV, 420, 421. 
 
 2. History of the West Indies, II, 199, 2oo;I v ucas, Historical Geography 
 of the British Colonies, II, 80, ;/. 
 
 3. Sketches in Summcrland, 282. 
 
 4. History oj the Bahama Islands, 425. 
 
 5. Fanning' s Narrative, 1908, 17; Report of the Bureau of Archives 
 Ont., Pt , /, 241 
 
 22 
 
Augustine. Man}' loyalists had previously signed to go under 
 his direction to East Florida. Accordingly, he ordered them to 
 embark, and, on November 6, went on board the transport New 
 Blessing, whose name doubtless seemed something of a mockery 
 before that vessel sailed eight days later. On November 17, the 
 convoy cast anchor off the Florida coast, and there laid eight days 
 more before its weary passengers could go ashore. After another 
 but briefer delay, Fanning was able to get his effects landed at a 
 point about twenty-seven miles from St. Augustine on the 
 Matangeys, where he thought of settling. Becoming dissatisfied 
 there, he went next to a more distant locality on the Halifax 
 River to established a plantation, for which he had a supply of 
 negroes. 
 
 In February, 1783, having met Major Deveaux, who was 
 collecting volunteers for his expedition to capture New Provid- 
 ence, Colonel Fanning agreed to join him, and raised thirty men 
 for the purpose; but through some oversight was left behind. 
 Later, several of the Colonel's slaves took sick and died, thereby 
 destroying his hopes of establishing a plantation. He, therefore, 
 moved into St. Augustine, but only to fall desperately ill 
 himself. Shortly after his recovery from this sickness, the news of 
 the peace reached East Florida, and the evacuation of that prov- 
 ince was ordered. At the same time, the ships came that were to 
 carry the provincial troops to Nova Scotia; but Fanning's personal 
 property was still in the country, and he had not yet decided 
 where he wished to go. Before settling this point, he visited the 
 Mosquito Shore, and received from its inhabitants a petition 
 addressed to Governor Tonyn, under date of January 24, 1784. 
 This petition asked for a schooner to transport the inhabitants to 
 East Florida before the intended surrender of that province, as 
 the petitioners desired to leave with the other loyalists. Fanning 
 delivered this message to the Governor, and appears to have 
 carried back in person the latter's reply, namely, that the inhabit- 
 ants must get to the shipping as best as they could, inasmuch as 
 there were no government vessels available to send for them. In 
 a speech that Fanning made to these people, he declared that the 
 loyalists had been sacrificed to the indignation of their enemies, 
 and that nothing was to be expected of Great Britain. He, there- 
 
 23 
 
fore, advised his hearers to throw themselves on the mercy of the 
 vSpaniards, and announced his own intention of betaking himself 
 to the farthest limits of West Florida, in order to settle "at or 
 near Fort Notches [Natchez] on the Mississippi River." 
 
 That this was not idle talk is shown by the fact that Colonel 
 Fanning set out, March 20, 1784, from St. Augustine, with seven 
 families, his wife, and two negroes, all in open boats, for the 
 Mississippi country. After sailing one hundred and sixty miles, 
 he lost sight of his companions, and never saw them afterwards, 
 although he waited for them twelve days, he tells us, at 
 "Scibersken." From that point, he journeyed to Key West, 
 where he was detained by a gale for more than a fortnight. 
 There he met a Spanish schooner, and was warned that his boat 
 was too small for the voyage he was undertaking, and that he 
 stood a poor chance of escaping death at the hands of the Indians. 
 Thereupon, he sailed back to one of the other keys, where he 
 found an Italian skipper from New Providence, engaged in 
 catching turtles. Fanning discovered this man to be untrust- 
 worthy and grasping, but, having no other alternative, engaged 
 passage with him at an exorbitant price. Fortunately, however, 
 the arrival of several other seaman from the Bahamas, on July 
 12, enabled Colonel and Mrs. Fanning to make the voyage to 
 New Providence with a captain who showed them every attention. 
 Landing at Nassau, the Fannings remained there only twenty 
 days, and then sailed for New Brunswick, where they cast 
 anchor, September 23, 1784. The}' departed a month later for 
 Halifax. Nova Scotia, with a view to obtaining land for settle- 
 ment. 1 
 
 Abaco, which probably received a greater share of the immi- 
 grants than any of the other Bahamas, is the largest island of 
 the group, and one of the most fertile. Philip Dumaresq, who 
 remained there as commissary for more than a year and a half , gives 
 some particulars regarding the island, which enable us to identify 
 it with Great Abaco: the length of the island, he says, is about a 
 hundred miles, and in shape it "forms an elbow." He found 
 the climate delightful, but noted that the soil was so shallow 
 that in a dry season the sun heated the rock underneath and 
 burned up any vegetables that had been planted. He also recorded 
 1. Planning' s Narrative, 1908, 37-46. 
 
 24 
 
that an unusual drought had prevailed almost from the time 
 the loyalists had arrived there. He wrote that Guinea corn, 
 potatoes, yams, turnips, and other garden produce would grow 
 very well, together with such fruits as oranges, limes, and 
 plantains (bananas), and that cotton would thrive; but he com- 
 plained that the settlers were all poor, had not the strength to 
 do much, and that he had .seen no fresh meat, except pork, since 
 his arrival. However, poultry, he said, could be raised in plenty. 
 The abundance of wild grapes convinced him that good wines 
 might be produced, and he was told that indigo could be cultivated 
 successfully. He and his family did not find the people of Abaco 
 at all congenial, and he speaks of them in no complimentary 
 terms in the letter to his father-in-law, Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, 
 the Boston loyalist, from which we glean our informant's impres- 
 sions of the island and its occupants; on the other hand, the Com- 
 missary had nothing but good words for the treatment accorded 
 him by John Maxwell, governor of the Bahamas, and Gen- 
 era! McArthur. These gentlemen, he testified, treated him only 
 with the greatest politeness, and the former appointed him a mag- 
 istrate in order, he declared, to keep him from being "insulted 
 by the Abaco Blackguards." 1 
 
 If, however, Governor Maxwell showed himself kindly dis- 
 posed towards this lone loyalist officer, he yet exhibited an 
 unmistakable prejudice, which he shared with the older inhabi- 
 tants, towards the new element in the colony. The coming of the 
 loyalists thus brought with it factional feeling — feeling that grew 
 so pronounced ere long as to lead the new settlers to disavow 
 openly any responsibility for an address of regret presented to 
 the Governor when he surrendered his office, and returned to Eng- 
 land in the summer of 1785. The Americans promptly became 
 the party of opposition to the existing government in the islands: 
 they criticized the administration, accused Governor Maxwell of 
 attempting to withold from them the right of trial by jury, and 
 of other conduct which they characterized as tyrannical. They 
 also found fault with some of the laws, on the ground that they 
 were repugnant to those of the mother country, and they de- 
 manded reform. The elections of 1785 gave the loyalists some 
 
 1. The Gardiner, Whipple, and Allen Letters, Vol.11, 49. (In the 
 Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, in Boston.) 
 
 25 
 
members in the House of Assembly, but the native population 
 was still in control there; and when several members, who favored 
 the new party, withdrew from the House and persisted in absent- 
 ing themselves against the House's orders, they were declared 
 to be no longer eligible to seats in that body. The lo}'alists 
 sent a petition to the Assembly asking for its dissolution, which, 
 after being read, was handed over to the common hangman to be 
 burned before the door of the House. 
 
 By the latter part of 1786, the Americans had become the 
 stronger party in the Bahamas; but the Earl of Dunmore, who 
 succeeded to the governorship at this time, pursued the same 
 policy as his predecessor. He received petitions from New 
 Providence, Abaco, Exuma, and Cat Island, again praying that 
 the Assembly be dissolved; but, as he declined to accede to 
 them, that body lasted about eight years longer, or until the end 
 of Dunmore's administration. Then, finally, an act was 
 passed that limited the life of a legislature to seven years. 
 
 Up to 1787, the title of the lands of the Bahamas had been 
 vested in the Lords Proprietors of the islands. Now, however, 
 the proprietary rights of these gentlemen passed to the Crown 
 "on the payment of ,£2,000 to each of them." Henceforth, the 
 King would exercise the rights of granting lands and collecting 
 quit rents, although this was to be with less success, insofar as the 
 quit rents were concerned, then under the Lords Proprietors. 1 
 
 Besides affecting political conditions in the colony, the influx 
 of the loyalists had a marked effect upon the commercial, agricul- 
 tural, and social conditions of the archipelago. By 1800 the town 
 of Nassau alone had a population — a little more than 3,000 — 
 equal to the whole population of the only islands inhabited thirty 
 years before, namely, New Providence, Eleuthera, and Harbor 
 Island. The exports of Nassau are said to have amounted only 
 to ,£5,200 for the years 1773 and 1774, and her imports to £'3,600 
 for the same period; while for 1786 and 1787 the former had 
 increased in value to ,£5,800, exclusive of the large amount of 
 bullion exported, and the latter to ,£136,360. McKinnen, who 
 made a tour of the Bahamas in 1802 and 1803, reports that six 
 square-rigged vessels were seen at one time in Nassau harbor laden 
 1. Fiske, The West Indies. 125; Geographical Society of Baltimore, 
 The Bahama Islands, 426. 
 
 26 
 
with cotton for London, and tells us that during many years 
 previous the exports of this commodity amounted to several hun- 
 dred tons per annum. He also notes that the town was fre- 
 quently visited while he remained there by African slave-ships, 
 some of which disposed of their cargoes on the island. The 
 principal trade of Nassau, McKinnen says, was carried on with 
 England, the southern islands in the West Indies, and the United 
 vStates, whence it derived continual supplies of live stock and 
 provisions. 1 The same authority states that the exports from the 
 islands included salt, turtles, mahogany, dye and other woods 
 and barks. Wrecking was also a source of considerable income, 
 since wrecks were continually occurring among the Bahamas. - 
 
 Agriculture, even more than commerce, was given a new 
 impetus by the American refugees, many of whom were planters 
 from the South, accompanied by a considerable number of 
 their slaves. It did not take these experienced cotton raisers 
 long to clear lands and plant their crops. "It is said that fifteen 
 years after their arrival, forty plantations, with between 2,000 and 
 3,000 acres in cotton fields, had been established on Crooked Island 
 alone, and that on Long Island, which was settled at an earlier 
 date, and which had been more extensively improved, there were 
 in 1783 nearly 4,000 acres in cultivation. The combined yield 
 from Long Island and Exuma for one year was estimated at over 
 600 tons." McKinnen found that the planters — most of whom 
 came from Georgia, according to his account — had brought with 
 them different varieties of seed, especially the Persian, but that 
 Anguilla cotton was being more generally cultivated at the time 
 of 'his visit. It was customary to assign not more than four acres 
 of Persian plants to each working slave, while five or six acres 
 formed the usual allotment on the plantations where the Anguilla 
 cotton was being grown. The best crops were secured from the 
 higher lands, and amounted to one-half or three-fourths of a ton 
 of clean lint for each working slave on some estates, although the 
 average yield was about one-sixth of a ton or less. Another crop 
 
 1. Geographical Society of Baltimore, The Bahama Islands. 148; 
 McKinnen, Tour Through the British West Indies, 216, 217; Northcroft, 
 Sketches of" Summerland, 282; McKinnen, Tour Through the British West 
 Indies, 218, 219. 
 
 2. Geographical Society of Baltimore, The Bahama Islands, / /<;. 
 
 27 
 
that was universally cultivated was Guinea corn. The produc- 
 tion of cotton, however, was not destined to be permanently suc- 
 cessful. When McKinnen visited the islands in 1S02-1803, he 
 found the plantations on Crooked Island for the most part 
 deserted, and the proprietors generally despondent over the agri- 
 cultural outlook. Mr. Charles N. Mooney of the United States 
 Bureau of Soils, who has thoroughly investigated this subject, 
 thinks that the same conditions probably prevailed in all the other 
 islands, and proceeds to explain that the failure of cotton was due 
 chiefly to the attacks of insects, but that other causes were also 
 operative, as disclosed by a committee of planters who looked 
 into the matter at the time. This committee reported as additional 
 causes for the failure of cotton growing, ' 'the use of land unsuited 
 to its culture, the injudicious and wasteful methods of clearing 
 the land, and the exhaustion of the soil by unremitted tillage." 
 The result appears to have been a marked decline in the produc- 
 tion of cotton after the year 1805, together with a decrease in the 
 value of land and slaves. 1 These conditions led inevitably to the 
 emigration of some of the planters with their negroes before the 
 exportation of slaves from the British colonies was prohibited, 
 and to attempts at securing the right to emigrate with them 
 after the slave trade was abolished in 1807. These conditions^ 
 serve to explain the return to Florida of a body of loyalists who 
 formed a settlement at New Smyrna, although they soon aban- 
 doned this place to seek homes in the States on account of the 
 distasteful policy of the Spanish administration. 2 The news of 
 the activity of the opponents of slaver) 7 in England, which did 
 not reach the Bahamas until 18 15, must have had a further 
 demoralizing effect upon cotton culture in the islands; and when 
 slavery was abolished in 1834 cotton ceased to be an important 
 crop. We are told that the fine estates that had been built up 
 were now deserted and that the owners either moved to Nassau 
 or left the islands altogether. 3 When emancipation was declared 
 the Bahama slave owners received ,£128,296 for their negroes, 
 or £"12, 14s, 4d. per head. This was a comparatively low figure, 
 t. Geographical Society of Baltimore, The Bahama Islands, 148, 149; 
 McKinnen. Tour Through the British JFest Tidies, 183; Geographical 
 Society of Baltimore, The Bahama Islands, 426, 552. 
 
 2. Fairbanks, History of Florida, 244. 
 
 3. Geographical Society of Baltimore, The Bahama Islands, 149, 429. 
 
considering the reimbursements of other colonies; but this fact 
 may possibly be regarded as proof that slave labor was not very 
 remunerative in the Bahamas. 1 
 
 The presence of the American refugees affected more or less 
 the social conditions in the Bahamas, for the newcomers soon out- 
 numbered the older inhabitants, and they introduced their own 
 conceptions of plantation life and of the relations of master and 
 slave. Many of the new whites were persons of energy, and we 
 have McKinnen's word for it that the blacks in general possessed 
 "more spirit and execution" than those in the southern parts of 
 the West Indies. The planters assigned the various tasks to their 
 negroes, "daily and individually" according to their strength; 
 and if the latter were so diligent as to have finished their 
 labors at an early hour, the rest of the day was allowed 
 them for amusement or their private concerns. Another feature 
 that tended to soften the system of slavery in the islands was the 
 absence of the overseer from most of the estates. The master usually 
 acted as his own superintendent; and it rarely happened, there- 
 fore, according to McKinnen, that the negroes were so much 
 subject to the discipline of the whip as was the case where the 
 gangs were large, and the direction of them was entrusted to 
 agents or overseers. It was, nevertheless, true that some planters 
 were brutal, that female slaves as well as males were some- 
 times flogged, and that masters "had the right practically to 
 punish their slaves at their own discretion," without being held 
 accountable for their acts of cruelty. - 
 
 The immigration to the Bahamas probably trebled the num- 
 ber of blacks, and raised the relative majority of blacks over whites 
 by more than twenty per cent. It is not surprising, therefore, 
 that the stringency of the laws regulating slaves should have 
 been increased. The sentiments and fears of the ruling class, 
 which arose out of the changed situation, appearin the legislation 
 enacted by the General Assembly of the colony in 1 784. This leg- 
 islation provided for the punishment of assault on a white by a 
 slave with death; it provided that other abuse of a white person 
 
 1. Northcroft, Sketches of Summerland, 292. 
 
 2. Edwards, West Indies, Vol. IV, Ap., 358; Northcroft, Sketches of 
 Summerland, 285. 
 
 29 
 
should be atoned for by a fine of £15, or by corporal punishment, 
 not limited in amount or character; it provided that "whites could 
 disarm not only slaves but also free coloured persons whom they 
 found at large with arms in their hands;" it imposed a tax of ^90 
 on any one manumitting a bondman, and gave validity to the evi- 
 dence of slaves against manumitted persons in all trials for capital 
 or criminal offenses; while against white persons only Christian 
 negroes, mulattos, mustees, or Indians were allowed to testify 
 at all, and they only in suits for debt. 1 
 
 In 1796 it was enacted that slave owners should endeavor 
 to instruct their slaves in the Christian religion, and have those 
 baptized who could be made sensible of a Deity and of the Chris- 
 tian faith; but as there was only one clergyman in the entire 
 colony at that time it is not likely that many slaves were baptized. 2 
 
 Inasmuch as planters were sometimes annoyed by the escape 
 of their slaves, it was customary to offer private rewards for the 
 return of the runaways. We are told that hardh T an issue of the 
 Bahama Gazette appeared in 1794 and 1795 that did not give notice 
 of the escape of a fugitive. At length an epidemic of escapes 
 into the interior occurred in the small island of New Providence, 
 and a law was passed ordering the registration of all free negroes, 
 mulattoes, mustees, and Indians, and providing that if at any 
 time five or more runaways were reported, free negroes might be 
 sent in pursuit of them. Colored freemen were promised rewards 
 for the arrest and delivery of runaways, and were allowed to kill 
 a fugitive slave, if necessary, in order to defend themselves from 
 his attack. 3 
 
 Slaves were excluded from service in the local militia. So, 
 also, were free blacks until the year 1804. After that time, 
 prejudice served as a sufficient bar against the exercise of this 
 right until after emancipation was declared. Much the same 
 restrictions held in regard to jury service by negroes during the 
 same period. 4 
 
 By a statute of 1805, the trial of all suits relating to the free- 
 dom of slaves was confined to the highest tribunal in the colony, 
 
 1. Geographical vSociety of Baltimore, The Bahama Islands, 449, 
 450,451, 456; Northcroft, Sketches iii Summerland ', 288. 
 
 2. Northcroft, Sketches in Summerland, 288. 
 
 3. Geographical vSociety of Baltimore, The Bahama Islands, 453. 
 
 4. Ibid., 448. 
 
 30 
 
namely, the General Court. As that body sat only in the island 
 of New Providence, it was necessary to provide that in the case of 
 the Out-islands a magistrate could require a master, on sufficient 
 evidence, either to surrender his claim of ownership to the alleged 
 slave, or pay the expense of sending the latter to Nassau for trial 
 before the court specified. If the claimant secured judgment, 
 he could bring another suit for damages, as well as for wages, for 
 the time he had been held in bondage. 1 
 
 Meanwhile, the planters of the Bahamas were already suffer- 
 ing from crop failures, and were deeply concerned over the 
 uncertainty of the tenure of the lands which they held. After 1 807 
 the foreign slave trade could no longer be carried on openly 
 in the islands, and a few years later residents were claiming 
 that their slaves had lost a quarter of the value which they 
 possessed during the first decade of the nineteenth century. 
 Under these circumstances, it was but natural that the slave 
 owners, especially the refugees from the Southern states, should 
 oppose the attempts of the English Parliament to get the colony 
 to adopt laws for the amelioration of the condition of the blacks. 
 These American refugees had been brought up in an atmosphere 
 of slavery; they had been accustomed to dealing with it in their 
 own way; and they were averse to any interference with it, espe- 
 cially any interference which they believed to be ruinous to their 
 property rights, and conducive, as they alleged, to slave insurrec- 
 tions. The Bahama Assembly took its stand from the first 
 against the successive measures recommended by the British gov- 
 ernment and supported by the local government. Thus a struggle 
 began in the islands in 18 15 that continued for nearly fifteen 
 years. This struggle started with a controversy over the need of 
 the registration of the slaves, the House of Assembly maintaining 
 that registration was wholly inexpedient and would prove disas- 
 trous to the islands. 2 
 
 This situation was greatly aggravated by an incident in 
 which. the attorney-general of the colony, William Wylly, a 
 Georgia loyalist, figured so prominently that it has been des- 
 ignated "the Wylly affair. " This incident aroused such feeling 
 between the local legislature on the one hand and the local govern - 
 
 1. Geographical Society of Baltimore, The Bahama Islands, 451. 
 
 2. Ibid, 430, 433. 44o-445. 
 
 3i 
 
ment on the other that legislation in regard to the registration 
 of the slaves was precluded for a term of four years. In 
 1816, Attorney- General Wylly brought action to prevent a 
 master's removal of his three negroes from New Providence to 
 Georgia, on the ground that the slaves had been imported since 
 the abolition of the slave trade. Two of the slaves were restored 
 to their owner, but the third was not. The House of Assembly 
 objected to the conduct of the Attorney-General, and also to his 
 opinion in favor of the use of licenses and bonds for removals 
 under the imperial statute of 1S06. Its hostility was further 
 aroused by the rumor that Mr. Wylly was in correspondence 
 with an anti-slavery society in London, called the African Insti- 
 tution, which he was alleged to be keeping informed as to the 
 colony's attitude on the question of registration. 
 
 Having determined to investigate the Attorney-General's 
 conduct, the House undertook to summon him before a committee, 
 only to receive an answer which it considered contemptuous. 
 A messenger, who was sent to arrest him, was resisted by armed 
 slaves 011 Mr. Wylly' s premises. Outraged at this, the House 
 next asked Governor Cameron to suspend the Attorney-General 
 from office, and again attempted his arrest. This time it was suc- 
 cessful, but w T ithin an hour after his imprisonment he was 
 released by order of the Chief Justice. The House now declared 
 the action of the Court unconstitutional, and again ordered the 
 arrest of the released prisoner; whereupon the Governor dis- 
 solved the House. If, a few days later, the action of that body 
 was unanimously approved by a public meeting at Nassau, the 
 Governor had the satisfaction of receiving in due time the sup- 
 port of the home government. Nevertheless, the struggle was 
 renewed by the next Assembly and its two successors. 
 
 At length, in 1818, the House passed a"healing act" under 
 the pacifying influence of a new executive, Major-General Lewis 
 Grant; but also voted that it could not, consistently with its dig- 
 nity, and never would, grant salaries to William Wylly and the 
 Justice of the General Court for past services since the commence- 
 ment of the dispute, or for any future services. It also reasserted 
 its claim to superiority over the courts. The uncompromising 
 
 32 
 
attitude of the House on these matters led to its dissolution in 
 December, 1820. Thus, the House of Assembly spent four years 
 in trying to override the other departments of the local govern- 
 ment on account of the Wylly affair, and then finally adopted 
 (1821) the system of registration for slaves. 1 
 
 But the greater conflict was to occur over the demand for a 
 programme of amelioration. According to this programme, 
 which originated in Parliament and was urged by the Ministry, 
 the flogging of female slaves was to cease; instruction was to be 
 given to negroes in the principles of Christian morality and 
 religion; the right to testify in courts of law was to be accorded 
 them after they had been duly qualified to exercise such a right; 
 the sacredness of the marriage tie was to be taught and fully 
 protected; self-emancipation was to be encouraged, together with 
 the accumulation of property by negroes, and too severe punish- 
 ments were to be discouraged. The Bahama Assembly did not bring 
 itself to accept these reforms until the year 1824, when it enacted 
 a new slave code which embodied only a part of them. In 1826, 
 however, it supplemented the code by amendatory legislation, 
 which included almost all of the recommendations of the British 
 government. This legislation, we are informed, "contained prac- 
 tically all that the Bahamas ever conceded in the enactment of 
 regulations for the amelioration of their slaves," although "a few 
 minor points were added in 1829. " 2 But, even yet, the provision 
 against the flogging of female slaves had found no place in the 
 new law. 
 
 In the year last named, Sir James Smyth was sent out as 
 governor of the Bahama Islands. His first duty was to enforce 
 the slave code, and thus accomplish the end at which the home 
 government had been aiming through all the previous fifteen 
 years. As he was himself an abolititionist, he had no desire to 
 shirk his responsibility, although he hoped to secure the cooper- 
 ation of the House of Assembly in the performance of his duty. 
 However, he soon came into a clash with that body in his efforts 
 to prevent the flogging of enslaved women. The House brought 
 a number of charges against the Governor, including one of mal- 
 
 1. Geographical Society of Baltimore, The Bahama Islands, 433-440. 
 
 2. Ibid., 442,445. 446-456- 
 
 33 
 
administration, and decided to ask the King to remove him. 
 Under such circumstances, the only thing left to Sir James was 
 to prorogue the Assembly, which he did after a few weeks' delay. 
 But the new Assembly, elected in 1832, was in no better mood, 
 and the Governor found himself compelled to resort to another 
 dissolution. In the spring of 1833, Sir James Smyth was recalled, 
 and was succeeded by Blaney T. Balfour as lieutanant-gover- 
 nor. This change gave no hope of a better understanding in 
 regard to the point in dispute between the executive and legislative 
 departments of the colony, inasmuch as Mr. Balfour held the 
 same convictions as his predecessor on the slavery question. 
 Meanwhile, English sentiment had been so aroused by the failure 
 of the colonists to enact the reforms demanded by enlightened 
 humanitarianism that the imperial Parliament was forced to pass 
 the statute abolishing slavery in the British Empire. Although 
 this action was taken in the spring of 1833, the old laws govern- 
 ing the relation of masters and slaves were allowed to remain in- 
 force in the colonies until the first of August, 1834.1 That the 
 loyalist immigration was parti}' responsible for this result is 
 obvious: it not only strengthened the hold of slavery on the Baha- 
 mas and the British West Indies, but also furnished a specious 
 standard of private rights combined with public interests, under 
 which those who had given proof of their steadfastness could do 
 battle in behalf of a cherished but doomed institution. 
 
 V. The Loyalists in Jamaica 
 
 While we know far less of the life of the loyalists in Jamaica 
 and the other British West Indies than of the life of those who 
 settled in the Bahamas, the general conditions amidst which they 
 settled- are clearly distinguishable. The size of Porto Rico, 
 together with its advantages of harbor and soil, and some doubts 
 about the effects of Parliament's compensating the loyalists in 
 money for their losses and sufferings led a Boston gentleman of 
 great prominence in his day, Sir John Temple, to draw up a plan 
 for the acquisition of this island by Great Britain, with a view to 
 settling the friends of government there. It is not known that 
 this project was ever submitted to the British authorities; but, 
 1. Geographical Society of Baltimore, The Bahama Islands, 480-483. 
 
nevertheless, it is not without a certain interest for the student 
 of loyalist affairs. Temple's project, then, contemplated the 
 reimbursement of the impoverished loyalists partly in Porto Rican 
 lands, instead of in money exclusively. Moreover, even those 
 who had lost no estates were to receive grants of land. For the 
 benefit of merchants, tradesmen, and others, a town was to be 
 laid out and alloted to members of these classes. Such a parcel- 
 ing out of the island, which Temple said contained 3,290,000 
 acres, would enable it to accommodate 30,000 families. If negroes 
 were to be admitted, which the author of the project thought 
 contrary to good policy, they should be taxed; and the money 
 secured from this source should be paid out in bounties on certain 
 exports, such as cotton and indigo. Sugar plantations ought not 
 to be encouraged, for England needed raw materials for her 
 manufactures more than she needed sugar; and Porto Rico could 
 well supply lumber and produce to the sugar islands, as well as 
 large quantities of cotton and indigo to Great Britain. Follow- 
 ing such a plan, Porto Rico would soon surpass Jamaica in 
 importance. But, the land should be kept low in price, and 
 should be subject to forfeiture if not settled within a specified 
 period after being granted. 1 
 
 Meanwhile, Jamaica was receiving considerable numbers of 
 loyalists and negroes from the mainland, the great convoy from 
 Charleston arriving on January 13, 1783. Six weeks later, the 
 Assembly of the island passed an act for the benefit of all white 
 refugees who had already come in, or should follow later, with the 
 intent of becoming inhabitants. This act was made applicable 
 to former residents of North and South Carolina and Georgia, 
 the Bay of Honduras, the Mosquito Shore, and other parts of 
 North America, who were paying the price of exile by being 
 forced to relinquish their dwellings, lands, slaves, or other prop- 
 erty. It exempted these persons for seven years after their arrival 
 from the payment of imposts on any negroes that accompanied 
 them, as well as from all manner of public and parochial taxes, 
 excepting the quit rents on such lands as they might purchase or 
 patent:! It also released them from all services, duties, and offices, 
 except the obligations to serve in the militia; and decreed that the 
 r. Winthrop Papers, XXIV. (In the Library of the Massachusetts His- 
 torical Society, Boston.) 
 
 35 
 
charges for patenting their lands should be borne at the public 
 expense. To avoid dispute in regard to those entitled to the 
 benefits of the act, it was provided that all persons claiming such 
 benefits should make affidavit, before the magistrate of the parish 
 or precinct where they proposed to settle, of their last place of resi- 
 dence, the number of slaves they had brought with them, and of 
 their intention in coming to Jamaica, this declaration to be made 
 within three months of the passing of the act for those who had 
 already arrived, or within the same period after their arrival for 
 those who should come later. The local magistrates were to 
 issue certificates to the persons satisfying the above requirements, 
 and these certificates were to be duly recorded in the office of the 
 secretary of the island. Loyalists who patented lands were 
 obliged to settle and plant at least a part of these, and proceed 
 with their improvements without intermission within two years 
 from the date of their patents, and in default of so doing were to 
 lose their lands. The reasons for the enactment of the above 
 measure, which were embodied in its preamble, were that the 
 Assembly of Jamaica felt bound by every priuciple of humanity 
 to relieve and assist the suffering refugees, and that it was only 
 good policy to give them all due encouragement, inasmuch as 
 nothing could tend more to the security, wealth, and prosperity 
 of the island than the increase of the inhabitants. 1 
 
 These reasons, however, did not prevent a protest against 
 the new law on the part of some of the older inhabitants. While 
 applauding the law and the motives from which it sprung, the 
 justices and vestry of Kingston presented a petition to the 
 Assembly, November 30, 17S4, calling attention to the effects of 
 the measure upon their parish, which, they claimed, was more 
 burdened by its provisions than all the other parishes combined. 
 The petition explained that there were nearly seventy house- 
 keepers in the town of Kingston who were refugees, and hence 
 were_exempt from parochial taxes, although many of these were 
 apparently wealth}' and were engaged in commerce to a consider- 
 able extent. Others were tradesmen or mechanics in the exer- 
 cise of lucrative employments. Some of these persons were 
 occupying fine houses in the best situations in the town. Thus, 
 the petitioners were deprived of the taxes that might have accrued 
 
 1. Acts of Assembly of Jamaica, /7/S-/7S3, 337, 338. 
 
 36 
 
from the "opulent refugees," and were also burdened with a 
 numerous poor of the same description, who came from the Mos- 
 quito Shore, the Bay of Honduras, and all parts of North America. 
 The petition further recited that ^1041, us, 4d., had been raised 
 by subscription in Kingston for the relief of these exiles, but that 
 the sum was so inadequate that numbers of hem still remained 
 in the utmost distress. The parish-house was crowded with ref- 
 ugees, and outside support was being furnished to many others 
 by weekly distributions of money. All this occasioned "a very 
 great and grievous addition to the parochial taxes," in the words 
 of the petition, from which is borrowed the annexed schedule of 
 sums expended on the exiles in the years 1783 and 1784: 
 
 1733 £. s. d. 
 
 32 addit. pers. admitted into the parish-house, at 
 
 the average of 24 1. each 768 o o 
 
 Paid for the passage of sundry refugees to other 
 countries where they were desirous to go, & 
 occas. necessaries; & for the temp, support 
 
 of many peo. in distress 127 4 2 
 
 1784 
 20 addit. pers. admitted into the parish-house, to 
 the pres. time; but in all prob. the num. will 
 
 soon equal that of last year 480 o o 
 
 Paid for passages and occas. necessaries 301 4 o 
 
 Out-pensions to refugees, about 5 1. per week, tak- 
 ing an average of two yr. for twenty-one 
 
 months 455 o o 
 
 2,131 8 2 
 This petition was referred to the committee of the whole 
 House, which was to inquire further into the state of the island 
 but what action, if any, was taken in regard to it does not 
 appear. 1 It is worth remarking, however, that the advent of 
 the loyalists in Kingston had cost that parish no less than £ 3,172, 
 19s. 6d. in public and private contributions up to the end of 
 November, 1784. 
 
 Other parishes in which loyalists are known to have settled 
 
 were Port Royal, St. Thomas-in-the-East, St. Andrew, St. 
 
 George, St. Catherine, St. Elizabeth, St. Thomas-in-the-Valc, 
 
 1. Journals of the Assembly of Jamaica, VIII, (1/84-1/91) pp. 32, 33. 
 
 37 
 
and Trelawney. But, as was asserted by the justices and vestry 
 of Kingston, the proportion of newcomers in these parishes was 
 small in comparison with those in Kingston, probably between 
 eight and nine per cent, of the latter number. The writer has in 
 his possesion copies of one hundred and seventy- four of the cer- 
 tificates that were issued to refugees, in accordance with the act 
 of 1783. These show that one hundred and forty-five of the 
 recipients chose Kingston as their place of abode. Eighteen 
 others, whose locations are given, distributed themselves over 
 the other parishes. Sixty-one of the hundred and forty-five 
 were accompanied by slaves, to the number of eight hundred and 
 eighty-one. Of the eighteen others, only nine had slaves, who 
 numbered all told five hundred and sixty-eight. While fully a 
 fourth of these certificated loyalists had but few negroes, the rest 
 had anywhere from five up to two hundred and over. One ref- 
 ugee was in charge of two hundred and two blacks, including 
 eighty-nine of his own, who had been employed for some time 
 on the public works, but were afterwards engaged in "jobbing" 
 in different parts of the County of Surrey. Another refugee 
 had brought over four hundred and twelve blacks, of whom 
 more than half were the property of Sir James Wright, recently 
 governor of Georgia, while another was in charge of one hundred 
 and eighty-one, nearly two thirds of these belonging to the Hon. 
 William Bull, late lieutenant-governor of South Carolina. Since 
 their arrival, the last named group of one hundred and eighty-one 
 slaves had been employed on the public works and in "jobbing" 
 in several parishes. 
 
 A few of the exiles came from Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, 
 New York, and Pennsylvania, a few also from Maryland, and Vir- 
 gina, but by far the greater number came from the other Southern 
 states. Out of the hundred and seventy-four certificated loyalists, 
 referred to above, sixty-six were from South Carolina, the most of 
 these having come at the time of the evacuation of Charleston. 
 Fifty-four gave the Bay of Honduras and the Mosquito Shore 
 as their former places of residence. Among the new settlers 
 there was a sprinkling of "gentlemen," surgeons, tradesmen, 
 Quakers (from Philadelphia), widows, and men who had 
 served in loyalist corps. The Quakers had been driven south- 
 
 38 
 
ward by being threatened with trials for treason. William Roach , 
 a refugee from New York, in making affidavit before the magis- 
 trate of his parish, told of having raised a company in the corps of 
 Loyal American Rangers, commanded by Colonel William Odell. 
 That there were many planters among these people goes without 
 saying. As early as January, 1784, accounts of the success of 
 some of these loyalists in raising large crops of indigo were circu- 
 lating in St. Augustine. 1 One surviving record shows that lands 
 were granted to no less than one hundred and eighty-three refugees 
 in the parish of St. Elizabeth. We are informed that the region 
 in which these grants were made was little better than a morass, 
 and that a claim for payment by the persons who surveyed and 
 apportioned the tract led to an inquiry on the part of the House of 
 Assembly, "when it was stated in evidence that none but amphib- 
 ious creatures, such as fishes, frogs, and 'Dutchmen' could live 
 there." It chanced that one of the loyalists who tried the exper- 
 iment bore the appropriate name of Frogg, but reported in sor- 
 row that he had buried most of his family in consequence, and 
 that his case was only one of many. 2 
 
 Among the refugees families that settled in Jamaica was that 
 of Dr. William Martin Johnston, the son of Dr. Lewis John- 
 ton, for some years treasurer and president of the King's Coun- 
 cil of Georgia. While in the North, William became a captain in 
 the New York Volunteers, or Third Loyal American Regiment. 
 In 1779, Captain Johnston married Elizabeth Liechtenstein of 
 Savannah, in whose Recollections ■, written in 1836, is preserved a 
 record of experiences that may fairly be regarded as typical for a 
 large class of island settlers. On the capture of Savannah by the 
 revolutionists in July, 1782, the elder Dr. Johnston and his family 
 were compelled to withdraw to East Florida, and until that prov- 
 ince was ceded to Spain, he lived in St. Augustine. Captain and 
 Mrs. Johnston, however, went fron Savannah to Charleston with 
 the military. When, in December, Charleston was evacuated, 
 Mrs. Johnston and her children took passage to St. Augustine to 
 join her father-in-law's family, while her husband accompanied 
 his regiment to New York City. Mrs. Johnston relates that she 
 was conveyed to her destination by a small schooner, and arrived 
 
 1. Eaton, Recollections of a Georgia Loyalist, 218. 
 
 2. Gardner, History of Jamaica, 211,212. 
 
 39 
 
there safely ' 'with many more Loyalists, ' although she saw "many 
 vessels lying stranded along the shore that had been wrecked on 
 the sand bar." It may have been that she was writing of this 
 dismal sight, when she remarked in a letter of January 3, 1783, 
 to her husband: "Out of the last fleet from Charleston there have 
 been sixteen sail of small vessels lost on and about the Bar. 
 There are six or eight high on the beach." At any rate, she 
 reported that no lives had been lost at the time of her own land- 
 ing, although "much of the poor Loyalists' property" was 
 destroyed. 
 
 Mrs. Johnston found St. Augustine occupied by many Greeks 
 from Smyrna and Minorca, who had been brought there by a Dr. 
 Turnbull to cultivate his lands on the Metanges, some miles from 
 the city. Inasmuch as these people had failed to get along well 
 with their employer, they had left his estates and come into town. 
 The Johnstons remained in St. Augustine for sixteen months, 
 during which period fish proved to be their "chief dependence 
 and ration." With the announcement that East Florida had been 
 ceded to the Spaniards, and that St. Augustine was soon to be 
 evacuated, Dr. Lewis Johnston was granted a transport for his 
 sole use "to go wherever he wished in the British Dominion. ' ' Being 
 a native of Scotland, he chose to return to that country, and late 
 in May, 1784, embarked at St. Mary's River for Greenock with 
 his own and his daughter-in-law's families. Captain Johnston 
 had sailed in advance, with the intention of pursuing medical 
 studies in Edinburgh and London. About the same time Brig- 
 adier-General Alured Clark, formerly commandant of Savannah, 
 was appointed governor of Jamaica. This circumstance with 
 others, led the Captain to decide on locating in Kingston, which 
 he accordingly did in the autumn of 1785. However, nis family 
 continued in Scotland until some time in October, 1786, and did 
 not arrive in Jamaica until the middle of the following December. 
 The elder Dr. Johnston spent the remainder of his life in Edin- 
 burgh, and died there, October 9, 1796. 
 
 His son was kindly received by Governor Clark, and nomi- 
 nally attached to a regiment in order to enable him to obtain 
 island pay at the rate of 20s. per week for himself, 10s. for his 
 wife, and 5s. each for his children. Not long after this he ren- 
 
 40 
 
dered important service in helping to combat yellow fever, which 
 was brought to Jamaica from Philadephia, and according to Mrs. 
 Johnston's Recollections, "made great havoc among all new- 
 comers and sailors," although it did not attack the natives, or 
 others who had resided there long enough to become acclimated. 
 Later, Dr. Johnston accepted attendance on the estates of James 
 Wildman, one of the members of the Jamaica Council, near 
 Kingston, in St. Andrew's parish, and settled in Liguana near 
 Halfwaytree. Here he died, December 9, 1807. In the sum- 
 mer of 1 810, Mrs. Johnston, having arranged the affairs of her 
 husband's estate in Jamaica, quitted the island for Nova Scotia 
 to reside with several of her children and near her aged father, 
 who had removed thither. l 
 
 The first large companies of loyalists who resorted to Jamaica \ / 
 were furnished provisions by the British government, but the 
 supply soon proved inadequate. A memorial, dated April 8. 
 1783, was forwarded to Sir Guy Carleton at New York, signed 
 by Charles Ogelvie, A. Wright, George Kincaid, William Tel- 
 fair, John McGillivray, James Skene, J. O. Murray, Thomas 
 Inglis,, Sir James Wright, William Knox, and several others, 
 requesting a further allowance until the)" could find "lands or 
 employment, especially for their negroes." 2 Some of these loyal- 
 ists secured the desired employment for their slaves, as we have 
 already seen, by hiring them out to labor on the public works, 
 or sending them out "jobbing," that is, to perform the heavy 
 work on sugar and other plantations, such as digging the cane 
 holes and planting/ 5 To the extent of being able to call on the 
 British authorities in the United States for provisions, the loyal- 
 ists were fortunate; but unless their appeal was promptly answered 
 the\^ had to endure not only the hardships peculiar to their own 
 lot, but also the visitations of famine and hurricane that prevailed 
 during the early years of their residence in the islands. In part, 
 the prospect of starvation that confronted new and old settlers 
 alike at this time was due to the destructive effects of the hurri- 
 canes of 1780 and 1 781; in part, however, it was also due to the 
 War of Independence, to which they owed their banishment from 
 
 1. Katon, Recollections of a Georgia Loyalist, 11, 12, 24, 29, 64, 73, 74, -— 
 
 passim. 
 
 2. Repoit on Am. Mss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., I\\ 19. 
 
 3. Gardner, History of Jamaica, 158. 
 
 41 
 
the states. Despite the proclamation of peace, the home govern- 
 ment adopted the policy of restricting trade with the neighboring 
 continent. An order in Council was promulgated, July 2, 1783, 
 limiting the importation of American products (livestock, grain, 
 lumber, etc.) into the West Indies, to British vessels, and pro- 
 hibiting entirely salt beef, pork, and fish. 
 
 Whether this policy of commercial hostility towards the 
 revolted states met with the approval of the loyalist element in the 
 West, Indies or not, it led most of the islands to send remonstrances 
 and petitions to the British Parliament in 1784, on the score 
 that they were dependent on America for supplies. The Legisla- 
 ture of Jamaica advocated free trade with the United States as 
 the only means of affording a chance of carrying on the island 
 estates, of supplying their families with bread, and of averting 
 "impending ruin." These protests were given added emphasis 
 by a destructive storm, which occurred, J11I3 7 30, 1784. This 
 storm either sunk, drove ashore, or dismasted every vessel in 
 Kingston harbor. It blew down public buildings in or near 
 Kingston, and caused the loss of many lives. Indeed, the situa- 
 tion had become so grave by the end of the first week in August 
 that Governor Clark exercised his discretionary power to the 
 extent of permitting the importation of provisions in foreign bot- 
 toms during the following six months. The immediate effect of 
 all this was to induce the planters to increase their acreage in 
 corn and other farm produce. Scarcely had they harvested their 
 crops when another hurricane swept over Jamaica, August 27, 
 1785; and the Governor found it necessary to prohibit the expor- 
 tation of provisions to other suffering colonies as an alternative 
 to opening the ports once more to American ships. Even this 
 measure did not prevent scarcity of food during the remainder of 
 the year, but "the climax of misery seemed to be reached" when 
 still another storm "burst upon the land," October 20, 1786. 1 
 Under the drastic stimulus of these years of disaster, supplemented 
 by the severities of the navigation laws, the islanders came to 
 depend more on themselves, not only in raising their own provi- 
 sion, but also in hewing their own staves.' 2 The navigation laws 
 ceased to be enforced after 1792, and were rescinded by Parlia- 
 ment a few 7 years later. 
 
 1. Gardner, History cf Jamaica, 212, 213. 
 
 2. Edwards, History of the JTest Indies, II J 284. 
 
 42 
 
It should be noted, however, that the increased production 
 of food stuffs was not accomplished at the expense of the sugar and 
 coffee crops, which in 1787 exceeded those of any former year. We 
 have no means of learning how far the loyalists and their slaves 
 contributed to these various results. Probably, they contributed 
 their share, especially in the cultivation of coffee, inasmuch as 
 this industry was rapidly growing in favor with the island planters 
 at the time the exiles began to arrive. While some refugees 
 were early reported to have raised large quantities of indigo, they 
 must have found, as did the other cultivators, that this crop was 
 unprofitable in the absence of protection; although it was well 
 suited to men of moderate means and owning but few negroes. 
 The growing of cotton, to which many of the Americans had been 
 accustomed, proved to be only partially successful in the West 
 Indies, on account of the variable climate of these islands. 1 
 
 It has been truly said that in no colony did the system of 
 slavery run more thoroughly its baneful course than in Jamaica, 
 and in none did it die harder. As most of the loyalists who 
 established themselves here were, or had been, slaveowners, there 
 can be no doubt that they held the same views on the abolition 
 of the slave-trade, the compulsory improvement of the slave code, 
 and emancipation as did their fellow-colonials in the Bahamas. 
 Moreover, they were now (in the year 1800) fully identified with 
 a population of 30,000 whites, who were the proprietors of 300,000 
 negroes. During the previous decade, the white men of Jamaica 
 had witnessed "the horrors which brought in the age of freedom" 
 in the neighboring island of Haiti or St. Domingo; aud they 
 were familiar on their own soil with Maroon wars and slave 
 rebellions. Jealous of their rights of self-government, they deeply 
 resented England's interference with their cherished institution, 
 which they regarded as the very foundation of their prosperity. 
 The Assembly of the island struggled long and bitterly against 
 the demands of the imperial government; but was compelled at 
 last to submit to the inevitable and accept the sum of ,£6,000,000, 
 or more, that was set apart as the purchase price of the slaves 
 in Jamaica. 2 
 
 1. Gardner, History of 'Jamaica, 159, 241, 242. 
 
 2. Lucas, Historical Geography of the British Colonics, /A 108; 
 Gardener, History of Jamaica, 292. 
 
 43 
 
VI. The Losses and Compensations of 
 the Loyalists in the Islands 
 
 The losses of real and personal property sustained by many 
 of the loyalists who fled to the West Indies and Bahamas were 
 liberally compensated b}^ the British government, as were the 
 losses of those adherents of the Crown who settled in other parts 
 of the British Empire. That the newcomers in these islands had 
 relinquished a great amount of property is shown by the certifi- 
 cates issued to those who landed in Jamacia and avowed their 
 intention of remaining as residents. As previously remarked, 
 the writer has copies of one hundred and seventy-four of these 
 certificates; and in one hundred and fifty-eight of them he finds 
 evidence of the losses sustained by their possessors, definite 
 amounts being given in one hundred and eleven certificates, 
 while only general statements regarding the losses appear in the 
 other forty-seven. The amounts reported range all the way from 
 ^15 up to ,£12,000, not a few running from ,£1,000 to ,£5,000. 
 James Cotton of North Carolina reported the largest loss men- 
 tioned, namely, ,£12,000; while James Cary tells of having left 
 Charlestown "under the necessity of abandoning all his property 
 that he could not carry off with him, which property, so left, 
 was confiscated by an Act of the Rebel Legislature and was of 
 the value of ,£6,000 and upwards." Taking into account only 
 the definite estimates contained in these certificates, the total 
 amount of the losses would be £1 15,051, although doubtless some 
 of the estimates were exaggerated. 
 
 A large class of claimants among the island settlers had 
 suffered the deprivation of their property in consequence of the 
 cession of East Florida to Spain. Four months before the defini- 
 tive treaty was signed confirming this cession, the East Florida 
 Gazette published a communication from Governor Tonyn in which 
 the intended surrender of the province was announced. The 
 communication also gave assurance that the government of Great 
 Britain would pay every attention to the welfare of the refugees 
 in the province, and that the Governor would exert himself in 
 
 44 
 
"cooperating with them to obtain a compensation for their great 
 losses and suffering." 1 
 
 The wretched condition of these unhappy people, for whom 
 East Florida would soon cease to be an asylum, caused a stir in 
 London, where the members of the Cabinet thought the matter 
 sufficiently grave to warrant a special meeting, July 24, 1783. 
 The purpose of this meeting was to discover some expedient for 
 giving relief to the large number of loyalists then assembled at 
 St. Augustine. The London papers reported that 5,000 of these 
 people had transmitted a memorial of their distresses to the govern- 
 ment; but that the mode of alleviation to be adopted had not yet 
 been made known. 2 
 
 Despite the commendable promptness of the Cabinet in consid- 
 ering this matter, Parliament appears to have taken no action for 
 the financial relief of these loyalists until 1786, when it passed an 
 act designating two commissioners to investigate the losses of such 
 of the East Florida sufferers as might submit their claims for 
 liquidation. For the benefit of those ' 'proprietors' r of the province 
 who had already removed to the Bahama Islands, or other British 
 colonies in America, the act provided that the Governor, Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor, or Commander-in-Chief, and Council of such islands 
 or colonies might act in place of the commissioners for P^ast 
 Florida, and that these officials should report their findings to the 
 regular commissioners to be laid in turn before the Lords of the 
 Treasury and the Secretaries of State. It was further provided 
 that no claim should be received in Great Britain after January 
 t, 1787, or in the Bahama Islands or other colonies after March 
 1 , of the same year. This act was to continue in force for two 
 years after the time of its passage. 3 Earl)- in June of the next 
 year, however, the same measure was re-enacted for an additional 
 twelvemonth. 4 
 
 In the meantime, the House of Commons adopted a reso- 
 lution, Ma}^, 8, 1787, recommending the granting of a sum not to 
 exceed ,£13,600 to be applied in payment "for present relief and 
 on account" to persons who gave satisfactory proof of their 
 
 1. The London Chronicle, July 22-24, 1783. 
 
 2. The Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser, July 30, 1783. 
 
 3. Public General Acts, 26 Geo. Ill, cap. lxxv. 
 
 4. Journals of the House of Commons, XLLLL, 519. 
 
 45 
 
losses to the commissioners of investigation for East Florida, this 
 sum to be paid in proportion not exceeding 4.0 per centum. 1 
 That this amount was wholly inadequate was demonstrated by 
 the first report of the East Florida Claim Office, which was sub- 
 mitted to the House at the end of May, 1788. That report 
 showed that the number of claims received thus far was two hun- 
 dred and eighty-eight, the gross amount of these claims being 
 ,£602,765, is. 7d. of these claims one hundred and seventy 
 nine were estimated as amounting in gross to ,£488,682, is. 7d. 
 The losses actually allowed by the commissioners cut this last 
 sum down to ,£127,552, 14s. 3d. 2 As Parliament had provided for 
 but £13,600 of this amount at its last session, the House of Com- 
 mons recommended, June 9, 1788, an additional appropriation of 
 £"113,952, 14s. 3d. 4 Later claims made necessary the voting of 
 further sums, most of which were included in larger appropria- 
 tions for groups of claimants not confined to those from East 
 Florida. Such appropriations were made in 1789, 1792, 1793. 1794, 
 x 795> 1796 (two), and 1798. Besides these grants "for American 
 and East Florida sufferers" as they were designated, there was a 
 special grant of ,£24,005, 12s. for East Florida claimants alone, 
 enacted in June 1790, 5 and another of ,£12,262, 19s. 9d. for 
 those from the Mosquito Shore, voted in March, 1792. 6 
 
 One of those who received compensation was Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Thomas Brown, who had gone to the Bahamas, and was 
 awarded the munificent sum of $150,000 for his confiscated estates 
 in Georgia and South Carolina. 7 Another was General Robert 
 Cunningham of South Carolina, who was at the time a resident 
 of Nassau, New Providence. 8 It is interesting to note that the 
 commissioners of loyalists' claims sitting at Halifax reported at 
 the end of September, 1786, that they had examined the cases of 
 some few claimants of the Bahama Islands. 9 That the claims 
 made did not always look to compensation in money is illustrated 
 by the memorial of John Ferdinand Dalziel Smyth, 10 a Northern 
 
 1. Journals of the House of Commons XL II, 739. 
 
 2. Ibid., XL III, 519. 
 
 3. Ibid., XLIII, 540. 
 
 4. Annual Register for the years named. 
 
 5. Journal of the House of Commons, XL V, 462, 543. 
 
 6. Annual Register for the year named. 
 
 ^7. Stark, History ' a?id Guide of the Bahamas, 87. 
 
 8. Sahine, American Loyalists, 1847, 236. 
 
 9. Report of the Bureau of Archives, Out., Ft. II, 1363. 
 10. In the Library of Congress. 
 
 46 
 
refugee, then in England, (January i, 1784), who in view of the 
 important services he insisted he had rendered early and late, the 
 great risks he had run, the captivity he had endured, the regi- 
 ment of one hundred and eighty-five men he had raised for the 
 Queen's Rangers, and the immense estate he had lost, applied to 
 the King in Council for a grant of one of the Bahamas, named 
 Yametta or Long Island, which contained about 20,000 acres 
 and was still unoccupied or unpossessed, according to his repre- 
 sentations. 
 
 The appointment of commissioners to investigate the East 
 Florida claims aroused to action those loyalists who had lived for 
 a longer or shorter period in West Florida. Some of "the 
 Planters, Merchants, Public Officers, and other late Proprietors" 
 of that province, hastening to London, presented a petition to 
 the House of Commons, March 16, 1787, in which the) 7 set forth 
 their reasons for asking consideration, as follows: that many 
 loyal inhabitants of that region had joined the King's troops, and 
 others had formed themselves into provincial corps and had been . 
 employed in dangerous service; that some of the petitioners, who 
 had sought safety in West Florida, were now excluded from that 
 temporary support and compensation for losses that had been 
 granted to many refugees who had dwelt in peace and security in 
 Great Britain during the whole War; that they had suffered seri- 
 ous losses, and West Florida had been surrendered under stipu- 
 lations that had proved ineffectual, insofar as the loyal inhabit- 
 ants were concerned; that many of these inhabitants had been 
 reduced from affluence to indigence, while some were in want of 
 immediate support; that no discrimination ought to be made 
 between East and West Florida, as both had been equally loyal and 
 and had been ceded to the enemy for the sake of peace; hence the 
 petitioners had come to England and were asking for such relief 
 as the House might deem proper. The House disposed of this 
 petition, which was caustic in tone, by laying it upon the table, 
 and nothing was heard of it afterwards. 1 
 
 However, as we have already seen, the claims of large numbers 
 of other loyalists were paid in money on a liberal scale. Still others 
 
 1. Journals of the House of Commons, XLII, 551, 552. 
 
 47 
 
received compensation in the form of appointments to offices 
 of emolument and honor under the Crown. Various executive, 
 judicial, and fiscal positions in the Bahamas, Lesser Antilles, and 
 Bermudas were filled in this.way. Thus, in 1781, William Browne 
 of Salem, Massachusetts, then an exile in England, was appointed 
 governor of Bermuda. Previous to the Revolution, Mr. Browne 
 had been a man of note in his native province, having served as 
 colonel of the Essex regiment, judge of the Supreme Court, and a 
 mandamus counselor. It is said that the revolutionary committee 
 of safety offered him the governorship on condition that he support 
 the American cause; but the loyalist declined and retired to 
 England. His administration as governor of Bermuda began 
 January 4,1782, his reception by the islanders being most cordial. 
 He conducted the business of the colony sucessfully and in harmony 
 with the local Legislature, greatly improved the finances, and left 
 the island in a prosperous condition wdien he withdrew to the 
 mother country in 1788. 1 Another Massachusetts man who held 
 office in Bermuda was Daniel Leonard of Taunton. A member 
 of the General Court, he was appointed a mandamus counselor in 
 1774, although he never served in that capacity. In 1776 he 
 accompanied the British army to Halifax, and doubless went 
 thence to England. In recognition of his past services and 
 sacrifices he was made chief justice of the Bermudas.' 2 
 
 In the Lesser Antilles, the Virgin Islands, St. Christopher's 
 or St. Kitt's, and Antigua had loyalists among their officials. 
 In Antigua the post of attorney to the Crown was held for some 
 years by Samuel Quincy of Massachusetts. Like his fellow- 
 colonials, Leonard and Browne, Quincy went to England after the 
 evacuation of Boston, having previously been solicitor-general. 
 He held the attorneyship of Antigua until his death in 1789. 3 
 Another fugitive from Boston, Nathaniel Coffin, was appointed 
 collector of customs in St. Christopher's, a station worth ,£1,500 
 per annum, and occupied by Mr. Coffin for thirty-four years. 4 
 James Robertson, attorney-general of Georgia before 1779, and 
 later a member of the House of Assembly and the Council in that 
 province, went from New York to London in the fall of 1782, 
 
 1. Stark, Bermuda Guide, 1890, 51-54. 
 
 2. Sabine American Loyalists, 1847, 418. 
 
 3. Ibid., 551. 
 
 4. Ibid., 221; Winthrop Papers, XXIV, 151. 
 
 48 
 
\'' 
 
 and about a year later was appointed chief justice of the Virgin 
 Islands with asalary of ,£200 per annum. 1 
 
 Besides loyalist officials, a few others of this class went to 
 some of the islands among the Lesser Antilles. Thus, in Sep- 
 tember, 1783, the family of Captain William Sutherland of the 
 Queen's Rangers was living in Antigua;- and, at the evacuation 
 of New York John Cox of New Jersey betook himself to St. 
 John's in the same island, whence he carried on trade among the 
 West Indies. ;j In 1786, another refugee from New Jersey, 
 James Stockton, and his sister, were residents of the Bermudas. 4 
 The petitions and memorials addressed by numerous individuals 
 at New York to the commander-in-chief, Sir Guy Carleton, dur- 
 ing 1782 and 1783, to be permitted— if not assisted — to depart for 
 the archipelago, the name of the particular island being omitted 
 in most instances, suggest that Dominica, Barbados, and other 
 islands, in addition to those named above, received a few refugee 
 settlers. 5 
 
 In the Bahamas at least three loyalists held offices of more or 
 less importance. One of these was William Wylly, whose con- 
 nection with the so-called Wylly affair has been previously nar- 
 rated. 6 He had been a resident of Georgia, although he spent a 
 considerable period in New Brunswick before going to the 
 islands. In New Brunswick, Mr. Wylly served as the first Crown 
 counsel and registrar of the court of vice-admiralty, but in 1787 
 he removed to the Bahamas with his family. In the following 
 year, he was appointed solicitor-general and surrogate of the 
 court of vice-admiralty. In 1804, he became advocate-general 
 of the vice-admiralty court. By 1812, he was chief justice, and 
 two years later exchanged with the attorney-general. In 1822, 
 he w r as transferred to the chief justiceship of St. Vincent, one 
 of the islands of the Windward group. 7 Another refugee who 
 served as chief justice of the Bahamas was Stephen De Lancey, 
 
 1. Second Report, Bureau of Archives, Out., Pt. II. 1132, 1133. 
 
 2. Report on Am. JIss. in the Roy. Inst, of G. Brit., IV, 374. 
 
 3. Second Report, Bureau of Archives, Out., Pt . II, 929. 
 
 4. Ibid., Pt. I, III. 
 
 5. Ante, p. 15. 
 
 6. Ante, p. 31. 
 
 7. Lawrence, Footprints, 107. 
 
 49 
 
formerly lieutenant-colonel of the first battalion of the New 
 Jersey Volunteers. 1 William Hutchinson of Massachusetts also 
 held an office in these islands. 2 Sabine thinks that Nathaniel 
 Hall, collector of customs at Nassau, New Providence, who died 
 in icSo7, was likewise a member of a loyalist family. 3 
 
 Jamaica furnishes at least one example of a loyalist office-holder 
 albeit of inferior rank, in the person of Adam Dolmage, a former 
 citizen of New York, who was appointed by the Governor on May 
 i, 1 79 1, to act for twelve months as deputy registrar of the high 
 court of chancery and clerk of the patents of this island, in place 
 of William Ramsay, who was about to leave for England for the 
 benefit of his health. Some years later, (that is, on January 7, 1815) 
 Mr. Dolmage was appointed clerk of the Supreme Court, and about 
 the same period served as clerk of the Surrey police court. 4 Isaac 
 Hunt of Philadelphia, after being carted through the streets of 
 that city by a mob, departed for the West Indies, where he took 
 church orders. Subsequently, he removed to England, and 
 became tutor in the family of the Duke of Chandos. It may be 
 added that he was the father of Leigh Hunt, one of the most emi- 
 nent literary men of England in the first half of the nineteenth 
 century. 5 
 
 1. Sabine, American Loyalists, 1847, 255. 
 
 2. Ibid., 378. 
 
 3. Ibid.. 342. 
 
 4. Record in possession of the author. 
 
 5. Sabine, American Loyalists, 374. 
 
 50 
 
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