Late Loyalists and the Myth of One-Way Migration

When most people think about Loyalist migration, they picture a one-way journey. 

The story is familiar. During and after the American Revolution, Loyalists left the newly independent United States and settled in British North America. They established communities in present-day Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and elsewhere. In many ways, this narrative forms the foundation of Loyalist history in Canada. 

But what if the story didn't end there? 

While researching several Loyalist families over the years, I noticed a pattern that challenged the traditional understanding of Loyalist migration. Individuals who appeared in Upper Canada records later surfaced in New York, Michigan, Ohio, or other American states. Some families moved south after years in Canada. Others crossed the border multiple times. In some cases, children and grandchildren settled on opposite sides of the international boundary. 

The more examples I found, the more I realized that migration was often far more complex than a single move from one country to another. 

Genealogists have access to an extraordinary range of Canadian and American records. Census schedules, land records, probate files, newspapers, border-crossing records, military files, and local histories allow us to follow families across generations and across borders. When these records are examined together, a different picture emerges. 

Rather than viewing the border as a permanent dividing line, many families treated it as a corridor of movement. 

This is particularly true in regions where economic, family, and social connections extended across the border. A farmer might move to Upper Canada to obtain land and later relocate to the United States in search of new opportunities. Adult children might establish themselves in different jurisdictions while maintaining close family ties. Entire kinship networks sometimes stretched from New England into Upper Canada and back again. 

These migration patterns have important implications for family history researchers. 

How often have we searched endlessly for an ancestor who seemed to disappear from Canadian records? How often have we assumed a family remained in one location because that is where we last found them? Sometimes the missing piece of the puzzle is not hidden in the next county or township. Sometimes it is across the border. The tendency to think of migration as a one-time event can limit our research. When we expand our search beyond political boundaries, new records, new evidence, and new family connections often come to light. 

These observations led me to explore the subject more deeply in my article, "Late Loyalists and the Myth of One-Way Migration," published in the Summer 2026 issue of the New York Researcher. In the article, I examine examples of cross-border migration and discuss how these movements challenge long-held assumptions about Loyalist settlement and mobility. 

One of the most valuable lessons genealogy teaches us is that our ancestors rarely behaved according to the neat historical narratives we create for them. Families made decisions based on land, employment, economics, marriage, inheritance, and opportunity. Those decisions often led them across borders, sometimes more than once. 

As researchers, our task is to follow the evidence wherever it leads. 

Sometimes that journey takes us far beyond the place where we expected the story to end. 

If this topic sounds familiar because you've encountered an ancestor who seemed to disappear from Canadian records or suddenly appear in the United States, you're not alone. My companion research guide, Tracing Late Loyalists Across the Canada–U.S. Border, explains how to identify cross-border migration patterns and locate the records needed to trace these families across generations and jurisdictions.

A version of this material appeared in Lake Hogan, Kathryn, “Late Loyalists and the Myth of One-Way Migration,” New York Researcher, Volume 37, no. 2 (Summer 2026): 5 pages. Used with permission of The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Additional reproduction prohibited without written permission from both the Author and The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.

        

    

The Clues Hiding in Family Letters and Postcards

Image created by ChatGPT 5.2, 8 Feb 2026.

What letters and postcards can tell us

Official records show what happened. Correspondence often reveals what life was actually like.
Family letters and postcards can reveal:

• relationships between family members
• nicknames and familiar forms of address
• maiden names and in-laws
• migration and travel patterns
• addresses and workplaces
• births, marriages, illnesses, and deaths
• everyday life details that never appear in official records

A postcard might show someone in a city on a certain day. A letter could explain why a family moved, describe a new job, or mention relatives you’ve never heard of.
 
Even a few lines of writing can add important pieces to your family story.
 

Where to look for family correspondence

Start close to home.
Many families still have letters and postcards stored in:

• attics and basements
• photo albums and scrapbooks
• memory boxes and old trunks
• greeting card collections
• recipe boxes or desk drawers

Ask relatives. There’s often one person in each family who keeps everything — photographs, documents, and letters. You might be surprised by what appears when you ask.
 
Correspondence can also be found in:

• local archives and historical societies
• military service files
• manuscript collections
• estate sales and antique markets
• digital collections online

But the most important collections are often still in private hands.
 

Reading correspondence like a genealogist

When you look at letters and postcards as research sources, you start to see them differently.
Ask questions like:

• Who wrote this?
• Who received it?
• Where was it sent from?
• What events are mentioned?
• What clues appear in the postmark or address?

 
Look for:

• names and relationships
• locations and travel references
• occupations and workplaces
• mentions of neighbours, friends, or relatives

Even small details can become important clues later.
 
Letters and postcards capture something that’s rarely seen in genealogical research: personality.
They show humour, worry, affection, and everyday life. They remind us that our ancestors were not just names in records; they were people who wrote home, stayed in touch, and shared their lives through the mail.
That’s why correspondence is important in family history.
 
This week, try one small step:

• ask a relative about old letters or postcards
• look through one storage box or album
• scan one piece of correspondence
• write down the story connected to it

Family history often begins with a single document, and sometimes, that document is a letter.
You never know what story is waiting inside an envelope.

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Want to explore this topic further?

This topic is also available as a webinar presentation for genealogical societies and family history groups. In the presentation, I walk through real examples of letters, postcards, and telegrams and show how to analyze them for genealogical evidence.

If your society is looking for a practical, engaging program, visit my webinar speaker page.

 

© Copyright by Kathryn Lake Hogan, 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Why 1926 Belongs on Your Genealogy Research Plan This Year

1926 Toronto street scene created by ChatGPT.

For genealogists, January is the perfect time to reset our research habits and concentrate on work that deepens our understanding rather than just adding more names to a family tree. This year, I encourage you to make that goal concrete in a single, unexpectedly powerful year: 1926.

It was the birth year of Queen Elizabeth II, Marilyn Monroe, and Canadian operatic legend Jonathan Stewart Vickers—cultural icons who remind us how one generation can quietly influence the world it inherits. Chances are, someone in your family was also born around that time. A century later, their lives sit at the intersection of living memory and archival record, making them ideal for genealogical research.

People born in 1926 belonged to the Silent Generation. They grew up during the economic hardships of the Great Depression, came of age during the shadow of the Second World War, raised families in the postwar boom, and witnessed significant technological advances. Their lives often span various record environments, including civil registration, census schedules, wartime documentation, urban expansion, and cross-border mobility, offering opportunities for correlation and interpretation.

Instead of viewing this as a scavenger hunt for documents, approach it as a focused research project with specific questions and supporting evidence.

1. Reevaluate the birth event using accessible evidence. For a 1926 birth in Canada, most researchers will not have direct access to the provincial birth registration because of privacy laws and closure periods. Unless the family already holds a copy, you’ll need to think more creatively about reconstructing the birth event using indirect or substitute sources. Start with baptism or church records, obituary details, cemetery records, family Bibles, funeral home files, and contemporary newspaper birth notices. Pay close attention to informants, sponsors, clergy, addresses, and institutional affiliations; these often indicate extended kinship networks and community ties. Mapping the birth or early residence and studying local conditions, transportation routes, and nearby institutions can reveal social and economic contexts even when civil registration remains inaccessible. This is an excellent exercise in evidence evaluation and correlation rather than record chasing.

2. Examine childhood through census and community records. A Canadian child born in 1926 might be listed in the 1931 census. Don’t just gather names and ages — study household structures, radio ownership, housing types, occupation trends, and neighbours. Cross-reference this with city directories, school registers, confirmation lists, or reports of juveniles in newspapers. These records help you reconstruct daily life during the Depression instead of merely documenting survival.

3. Track mobility deliberately. The 1930s and 1940s saw significant internal migration and cross-border movement. City directories can reveal yearly address changes and early employment details. Border crossings, passenger lists, and naturalization records often appear even for brief moves between Ontario, Quebec, and nearby U.S. states. Visual mapping often uncovers migration patterns that timelines alone cannot show.

4. Place wartime experience in local context. Someone born in 1926 would have reached late adolescence as the Second World War ended. Some enlisted late; others registered, trained, or worked in wartime industries. Canadian service files, regimental histories, veterans’ organizations, and local honour rolls provide context even when no active service occurred. The absence of service can itself raise useful research questions.

5. Use newspapers as a narrative framework. Newspapers are often the most valuable source for this generation. Look for engagement announcements, sports involvement, business ventures, labour activities, graduations, accidents, and civic participation. Don’t stop at a single clipped article. Browse multiple issues across several years and read beyond the isolated surname hit. When you follow a person through recurring newspaper mentions, patterns of identity, social networks, and community standing begin to emerge.

6. Catalogue occupational and institutional records. Union memberships, professional licensing, land transactions, business registrations, and church governance records reveal economic stability and social networks. These sources help move your analysis from vital events to lived experiences.

7. Capture memories before they fade. If your 1926-born ancestor is still alive, or if those who knew them well are living, focus on recording oral histories now. Ask about routines, neighbourhoods, schooling, early jobs or careers, wartime experiences, and migration stories. Digitize photographs, letters, report cards, recipe cards, and marginal notes. These fragile materials rarely survive without careful care.

Understanding what life was like in 1926 strengthens every interpretive decision you make. Radio ownership was expanding. Automobiles changed mobility. Women navigated shifting social expectations after suffrage. Economic optimism would soon clash with Depression realities. Context turns records into evidence.

Instead of setting a vague goal to “do more genealogy,” choose a project that improves your critical thinking. Let 1926 serve as an entry point into deeper analysis, fuller narratives, and more disciplined research techniques. A century might separate you from that birth year, but thoughtful methods clearly connect those lives to today.

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Author’s Note: I used artificial intelligence (AI) as a drafting tool while developing this article, but the idea, direction, and final content are my own. Every paragraph was carefully reviewed, edited, and refined by me before publication.

© Copyright by Kathryn Lake Hogan, 2026. All Rights Reserved.