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Mohawk Nation of Grand River

The Line of Honour

Generation by generation, from you to the Loyalist ancestor.

From Book VI of the National Books, Honours, Heraldry and Ceremony

Key to the board

Your lineThe female line: the clanOther ancestorsThe Loyalist ancestor, UELThe nearest proven ancestor1The steps, 1 to 5
WHERE TO LOOK, AT EACH RUNGYOUUEmother ←→ fatherGeneration 1 · 2 parentsyour birth record; your parents’ marriage recordGeneration 2 · 4 grandparentsbirth, marriage and baptism records; a censusGeneration 3 · 8parish registers; censuses; Grand River recordsGeneration 4 · 16parish registers; censuses; Grand River recordsGeneration 5 · 32Grand River records; the Indian Department’s rollsGeneration 6 · 64the Indian Department’s rolls; baptismsGeneration 7 · 128baptism; the Loyalist ancestor’s family in the recordWORK BACK FROM THE LOYALIST ANCESTORUELTHE LOYALIST ANCESTORof Canajoharie, Tikondarago or Aughgugo12345
Each row is one generation back. At every step the line goes left, to the mother, or right, to the father. The pink line keeps to the mothers alone: the clan’s line. The gold line takes either side, as the mark does, so there is no wrong side. Tap a peg on your line, a pink peg, the Loyalist ancestor’s box or You.

The formula

One Loyalist ancestorof the three villages, adhered before 1783
+
Every generationproven by a record, by either sex
+
The oathbefore a magistrate, as Simcoe directed
=
UEthe Mark of Honour, on the Register

Working back from the Loyalist ancestor

  1. Start at the Loyalist ancestor: find one in the record of adherence
  2. Trace down: the Loyalist ancestor’s children, then theirs, by either sex
  3. Trace up: from yourself, as far as your family’s records go
  4. Meet in the middle: where a name, a place and a date line up
  5. Prove each peg by its record, each one ticked, then swear before a magistrate

Tap a step to find it on the board.

Where Loyalist ancestors are found

ClaimsLoyalist claims to the Crown after the war
RollsThe Indian Department’s rolls
CensusBrant’s census of the Grand River, 1785
RegisterThe Nation’s Register and its Roll of Known Loyalists
Stuck?

Lost the trail at the third or fourth generation? A member received by customary adoption climbs through the Nation’s law of adoption, and the Registrar General helps to trace a line.

A Loyalist ancestor proven once stays proven: every later climb stops at the nearest proven ancestor.

The printed poster

Download the poster as printed, A3, full quality: the-line-of-honour.pdf