Loyalist, foreign protestants, and Canadians: tracking your once or future ancestors north of the border

Loyalists, foreign protestants, and Canadians: tracking your once or future ancestors north of the border.
Presented by Erik Swanson

Had Arnold’s invasion been successful, Canada would have become part of the United States – instead, it has long served as a destination for American political dissenters and as a source for immigrants, with the long (and until recently, virtually open) border allowing plentiful cross-border migration.  Primary focus will be on pre-Revolution migrations to Canada, Loyalists (those colonists who supported the King during the American Revolution), and the deep connections between Canada and the United States (especially New England) which allowed many families to have started in the United States, moved to Canada for a few generations, then returned to the United States.  Particular attention will be paid to the historical context of Canadian settlement and immigration, Canadian-American relations, and Canadian records and research will be discussed.

A fellow member of NSGS, Erik has been researching his family for over twenty years, which has enabled him to gain expertise in the area of his own diverse roots, from colonial New England, New York and Canada to Sicily, Sweden, Germany, France, and the British Isles.

A graduate of the University of Chicago and Washington and Lee University, Erik has spoken and written on a variety of genealogical and legal topics. When not researching his family, he maintains a legal practice based in the northern suburbs.