Good Evening Ed
Thanks so much for your response. Yes they did maintain contact with family
in Richmond.  Dr McClurg was the young McCaw's uncle and helped fund his
medical school expense at University of Edinburgh. Since most of the
information I have found so far is in someway connected with the recognition
of the medical services provided by the family and their descendants I don't
have any indication on the mother's side.
I am ashamed to ask this but...What is the Valentine Richmond History
Center?  We are in Richmond about 4 times a year--family in Madison Heights
and Pamplin and do research at LVA, Va Histo Soc, Baptist Archives at Univ
of Richmond, W&M, and Rockerfeller Lib at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Our most recent visit there was on the 8-10 Dec.

In case you haven't tied this together this McCaw is an ancestor of John
Brown McCaw(Chimborazo) and more recent Walter Drew McCaw(WW I in
France--Army sort of Surgeon General).
Looking forward to hearing from you
Douglas Burnett
Satellite Beach
FL

On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 12:26 PM, Edward Ragan <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> *
> Dear Douglas,
>
> At first I did not pay much attention to your request, though as the
> various
> responses came in, I began to think more about the evolution of
> "citizenship" from the Revolution into the 1790s. Also, your McCaws have a
> Richmond connection, and I work in Richmond history, so I became intrigued
> with just how Richmonders might have treated Loyalists during and after the
> Revolution.
>
> Obviously, before the Revolution, native-born Virginians were subjects of
> the British crown. The notion of citizenship, with its rights and
> obligations, emerged during the Enlightenment and changed considerably from
> the 1770s to the 1790s. In Virginia, the first definition of citizenship
> came in May 1779, "An act declaring who shall be deemed citizens of this
> commonwealth." For this see Hening's, "Statutes of Virginia," 10:129-30 <
> http://vagenweb.org/hening/vol10-06.htm#page_129>, which describes
> citizens
> as those white people who were born in Virginia or had lived there for two
> years before passage of this law. Those living in Virginia for less than
> two
> years could become naturalized citizens with a simple oath in county court.
> Likewise, it was just as simple to renounce one's citizenship (presumably
> with no hard feelings ;-). This same session of the General Assembly also
> passed "An act concerning escheats and forfeitures from British subjects."
> For
> this see Hening's, "Statutes of Virginia," 10:66-71 <
> http://vagenweb.org/hening/vol10-03.htm>. This act says that anyone who
> left
> Virginia was not a citizen but instead remained a British subject (pp.
> 70-71). This act was based on the October 1776 "Act declaring what shall be
> treason." (Hening's, "Statutes of Virginia," 9:168 <
> http://vagenweb.org/hening/vol09-08.htm#page_168>).
>
> Now, your situation is complicated because the above citizenship
> legislation
> granted childrens' citizenship through the father and only secondarily
> through the mother if the father was deceased. The fact that he was a
> traitor may not have helped their case. That the mother was born in
> Virginia
> and married to a Loyalist may have mitigated her treason (since legally she
> was his dependent). All of Virginia's efforts may have been superseded by
> the federal Congress, which passed the Naturalization Act of 1790,
> requiring
> a two-year residence before citizenship could be conferred. See <
> http://tinyurl.com/ygyplsm>.
> *
> *
> *
> None of this gives you a simple answer, but this is a good document trail
> that may help you answer your question. The trick would be to track down
> any
> property to discover its disposition during or after the Revolution. The
> 1779 "Act concerning escheats and forfeitures from British subjects"
> instructed county tax commissioners to confiscate and sell Loyalist
> property
> (within certain parameters). Again, a caveat, "the estates real and
> personal
> of such British subjects who have wives, widows, or children, residing
> within this state, shall be appropriated as follows: Such estates . . .
> where a wife and child, or child and no wife, the whole of the estate
> belonging to such British subject shall be without the perview of this act,
> " (p. 71). And this clause may not be relevant for your case, since the
> widow and children did not reside in Virginia at the time.
>
> Did they maintain contact with family in Virginia?
>
> Good luck with your research,
> Ed
>
> ================
> * Edward DuBois Ragan
> Staff Historian
> Valentine Richmond History Center
> 1015 East Clay Street
> Richmond, Virginia 23219-1527
> 804.649.0711 ext. 344
> 804.643.3510 fax
> 804.787.0144 cell
> [log in to unmask]
> www.richmondhistorycenter.com*
>
> *
> *
>
> > > From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
> > > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of James Burnett
> > > Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2009 4:39 PM
> > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: [VA-HIST] Loyalty Oath
> > >
> > > Good Evening All
> > > I have a question wrt passports/immigration.  I have a Virginia born
> > > ancestor who married a British born Doctor in Va prior to 1775.  When
> the
> > > Revolution began the Dr was a Loyalist and he, his wife, son, and
> > daughter
> > > returned to England. The Dr then returned to New York in a British
> > uniform
> > > and died there. Subsequent to the war his wife, daughter and son, after
> > he
> > > graduated from Edinburgh Medical School returned to Va in 1792. On
> their
> > > return would they have been treated as immigrants even though all were
> > born
> > > in Va? Would they have had to take an oath of loyalty?
> > > Just to put a name on this law they were the McCaws and there were 5
> > > generations of physicians in the Richmond Va area from this line.
> > > Thanks in advance
> > > Douglas Burnett
> > > Satellite Beach
> > > FL
> >
>
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