The subtitle of this book is, “The Adams, the Quincys, and the Battle for Loyalty in the American Revolution”. Most of us spend our time looking for ancestors who served in the Continental Army, or their state militia, or who at least performed some service on behalf of the revolution. This book is about the Loyalists, and how their lives were impacted by their decisions. Some stayed in the fledgling United States, and some fled to Britain or another British colony. Of course, whatever path they chose, it changed the lives of their close relatives, as well as their descendants.
As per the subtitle, Malcolm focuses on a couple of well-known families. In the Quincy family, the patriarch, Josiah Sr., was a stanch supporter of the Revolution, as was son Josiah Jr. His son Samuel, who had taken a post with the English government not long before hostilities broke out, fled to England early in the conflict, leaving his wife and children behind. At the time, few people thought the war would last more than a year, and England was bound to be the victor, right? So fleeing neighbors who were checking on your tea consumption seemed like a safe bet. And many loyalists fled with the British after the war’s end.
Many of the Americans who fled to England realized that they actually were more American than English. They were more comfortable associating with other Colonists, for example. But once they were there, it was difficult to return. For one thing, their property might have been confiscated. Returning during the war years might have been dangerous, and returning after the side that you supported had lost? Well, probably not a good idea either, but a few people did do that. But while the British government gave some loyalist a stipend during the war, after the war, they were on their own.
If this was your family, how would you research them? Most of us reading this book in the United States had ancestors who stayed, even if they didn’t perform patriotic duty. If your ancestors fled to say, Canada, and then returned a generation or so later, you should be able to track them in the usual record sets. It might be harder to track if your ancestor’s children or siblings fled to England, especially if they didn’t return. Most of us don’t have a cache of family letters stored in a library somewhere. Missing children might be mentioned in wills, or property records might give you clues.