University of New Brunswick launches interactive story maps of 10 loyalists

Between 1783 and 1785, approximately 15,000 loyalists of the American Revolution arrived in what would become the colony of New Brunswick. Most of them landed at the mouth of the St. John River, overwhelming the 400 plus civilians and troops living there, and founding the city of Saint John.

The University of New Brunswick (UNB) has produced a interactive story map that recreates the stories of loyalists, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology and resources found within The Loyalist Collection and UNB Libraries.

Abraham Vanderbeck is one of ten loyalists, who settled in New Brunswick, featured in the University of New Brunswick’s interactive story map, New Brunswick Loyalist Journeys.

The initial phase of the New Brunswick Loyalist Journeys project features the lives and Atlantic migrations of ten loyalists, who settled in York County, New Brunswick. Their stories are illustrated through maps, images, primary documents, and biography.

Each loyalist has a story map and bibliography.

Visitors to the website can explore the lives of these ten York County loyalists: Stair Agnew, Samuel Cooke, Jacob Ellegood, Elizabeth Green, Joseph Lee, Moses Simpson, George Sproule, Samuel Denny Street, Abraham Vanderbeck, and Samuel Richard Wilson.

The research project began in the summer of 2016. Student assistants, a federal grant student, and Microforms Unit staff took on the role of researchers. By the end of that summer, ten biographies that highlight the diversity of New Brunswick loyalists and their experiences had been completed.

Then, during the summer of 2017, the biographies were staged using GIS story mapping software to show the individual lives and research.

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4 Responses to University of New Brunswick launches interactive story maps of 10 loyalists

  1. Valerie Hagerman says:

    So wish you were doing John , Cornelius or Captain John Hagerman

  2. Carla Cummings says:

    I would love to get war route map where Lot Patterson went … I have paper where he went .. I drew maps myself not good until i saw this program ahhh .. do you charge for that if i ask for it ? I am still looking for his birthplace

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