Plan Twice Visit Once - Day 8

Ooopsy.  Today was my day to visit Adolphustown, founded by Major Peter Vanalstine, the big kahuna of Loyalists and ancestor extraordinaire, in 1784.  Adolphustown sits on the edge of Lake Ontario with a massive campground (bring your tents and RVs), the Loyalist monument and burying ground (most graves unmarked), and a museum/archive/research centre.  This is the United Empire Loyalists Heritage Centre.  All wonderful things, except the museum/archive is closed on Tuesday.

Entrance to UEL Cemetery

UEL Monument

UEL Museum / Archives

Oops! 

 Although I am leaving Napanee tomorrow for New York, I will do so with a detour through Adolphustown.  I can't miss the archive.  I still have Loyalist ancestors to research!

The day was not lost, however.  I took the Loyalist Parkway along Lake Ontario on my way back to Napanee.  A shocking number of things are named "Loyalist":  Loyalist Township, Loyalist Orchards, Loyalist Country Club, etc. etc.  And Britsh flags fly!  Sometimes in concert with Canadian flags, sometimes alone; never with American flags, of course.  I wish I had counted them on my way from Adolphustown to Bath (yes, Bath).

On my drive today, I marveled at the change in landscape -- I've gone from serious timber country to equally serious farmland.  A trip that began with forests and hills up north has morphed into flat farms sporting massive fields of corn, golden grasses (wheat?), and short, unidentified crops.  My limited knowledge of geology tells me that the northern reaches were carved out by glaciers (evidence all the lakes) and not much grows there, lacking topsoil.  Here, on the other hand, the land has been more gently treated by time and therefore can support agriculture.  At least, that's my story.

Not spending hours in the Adolphustown archive also gave me the opportunity to visit the Lennox and Addington Museum and Archives in Napanee.  I did spend hours there and clarified a few weirdnesses in my ancestor tree.  I also read stories about an impressive ancestor, a woman, Dutch in origin, who was said to have kept bees, represented her spouse in land deals, kept her own account book, and won cases in court, when the need arose.  She emigrated with her spouse and two children from the Netherlands in 1655, so all this occurred in the late 17th/early 18th century--WOW.

Finally, ICYMI, I have to share two of the biggest news stories from the CBC today:  First, Canada is only mentioned once in the Republican platform.  The Republicans are supporting construction of the Keystone pipeline.  That's the only mention of Canada; nothing about building a wall.  (The latter came directly from the reporter's mouth.)  Second, Canada is having a Cover-Oregon style meltdown.  In this case, it is the inaptly named "Phoenix system," which is supposed to process payroll for Federal employees and pensioners.  Except it isn't working.  Hundreds of people are not getting paid and the authorities are scrambling to get payments out, sometimes in cash.  It seems that IT contractors are the same, regardless of which side of the border they're on.