Addendum: Sarah Kast McGinness.

by Donald W. Diminie, UE

Earlier this year, just before Convention time I received my certificate as a descendant of Sarah Kast McGinnis. While not a collector of UE certificates, I was especially happy to get this one. You see, Sarah, as far as we know, killed no one in the American Revolution, wasn't a soldier and perhaps never ever carried a weapon. But, as documentation shows, she was as much a Loyalist as any soldier. It was Sarah who twice went back into enemy territory to influence the Mohawk people to remain on the British side in that civil war. This of course was at the request of British authorities. Sarah had grown up living close by the Mohawk in that New York valley of the same name. She lost her husband, Timothy, fighting for the British cause in the Seven Years' War at the Battle of Bloody Pond. Still a widow in 1775, it is most important to understand that in a time when women often had no voice in matters of import, Sarah made her own decision to remain loyal to the Crown!

Like other Loyalists her decision cost her dearly, losing all her property, being alienated from friends and extended family members, as well as deaths of members of her family. When safely in Canada, she was twice asked by the government to help influence the Mohawk people favourably, she agreed and succeeded. Sarah never got a land grant nor any other recognition that we know of. She was paid only a small portion of her monetary claim! I found Sarah when searching for the parents of a G-G Grandfather, Nicholas Hartman, whose mother was Margaret Staring who was the daughter of Catherine McGinnis and Adam Joseph Staring. Catherine McGinnis was the daughter of Sarah Kast and Timothy McGinnis.

I must thank a cousin I have not as yet had the pleasure of meeting: Barbara Hopper, UE, who was responsible for setting ablaze my interest in Sarah. I had read Barbara's article about Sarah in a back issue of The Loyalist Gazette. (that Edgar Clow mentions in his article) and also Barbara's story in the Herkimer County Almanac, Legacy entitled, "Sarah Kast McGinness: A Loyalist Legend". A lot of follow-up here and in New York State on my part happened also. My goal was foremost, to have Sarah recognized, acknowledged finally as a Loyalist. Secondly, to make it known to other descendants that they also may obtain their UE standing by proving descent from her. After all, some people may only be able to track one Loyalist ancestor. If that is so, I can think of none better than Sarah Kast McGinnis. I believe there are likely other women who demonstrated their support of the British cause in the Revolution. If you find such an ancestor, applying for your UE certificate as a descendant is a way of gaining deserved recognition for her.