Hi Doug - The Valentine Richmond History Center is the museum of the  
life and culture of the city of Richmond, and the second oldest museum  
in the city.
The genesis of the museum began at the end of the 19th century with a  
gift by Mann Valentine II of the Wickham House (where Dr. McClurg  
lived the last years of his life - his daughter Elizabeth married  
attorney John Wickham, defender of Aaron Burr), Valentine's extensive  
collections, and $50,000.  It is at 1015 East Clay Street and is a  
fabulous place to learn everything you always wanted to know about  
Richmond (and, in a lot of respects Virginia too), but didn't know  
where to look.
Give a shout out next time you are in town and check out the museum;  
it is a great resource, with fabulous archives and collections.
A tour of the Wickham House alone is worth the trip - a neoclassical  
delight, it contains exquisite interior wall paintings that make it  
quite unique in America.
It was designed by housewright Alexander Parris, who went on the next  
year (1813) to design the Virginia Executive Mansion, the oldest  
continually lived in governor's house in the nation.
Alyson

On Dec 16, 2009, at 6:11 PM, James Burnett wrote:

> 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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>
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Alyson L. Taylor-White
804-920-2783

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