Loyalist + Patriot = ?

What Do You Get When a Loyalist Line marries a Patriot Line?

I decided since I might have both in the family that I'd finally do the work and then apply to Daughters of the American Revolution [DAR] and United Empire Loyalists [UEL] at the same time.

As far as my supposed Loyalist line is concerned, I've only one that I know about, and that's my Vaughan line. Josephus Vaughan is a proven Loyalist because he migrated to Quebec and is listed as having received his 200 acres for remaining loyal to the crown. [That's right. He didn't fight either. He just believed in what he believed in for whatever reason, lost his family land in Fairfield, CT, where his father had been the town physician, and was forced to migrate to Quebec.] A few generations later, my Vaughan line returns to America and settles in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw Co, MI where my 2nd Great Grandfather, Daniel Rook Vaughan, is born and where he signs up at the age of 15 to be a musician in the Civil War. [How 'bout that? Loyalist to Civil War soldier in 4 generations.]

Then I got to thinking about Daniel's mother's family, and how I had found some information on her mother's line, the Stuck/Stock family. And I wondered if that line had been in America during the Revolution, and if so, what side had they been on?

So I took a look, and the supposed progenitor of this Stuck/Stock family line is Johann Melchoir Stock. Then I ran his name through the DAR system, and lo and behold, he's a proven Patriot because he paid taxes. [Yeah. I know. Another non-fighter.] After a little more digging online, I found a lead on some sourced information on the family. One claim was that he may have only paid taxes, but he offered up his sons to the War. Well, I did find one of the sons in the DAR system, but he's not my ancestor, Johann Matthias Stock. It's one of his brothers. So was my Matthias a Patriot? Did he fight or contribute to the effort? I dunno. But there seems to be quite a bit of information available for this family line. Even if I can't prove Matthias was a Patriot, I don't even have to prove Melchoir's Patriot status with DAR because that's already been done. I just need to prove Matthias and Melchoir's relationship. [And that person with the sourced info indicates where Matthias was confirmed. But I digress...]

Anywho. I thought this made an even better story. An orphaned boy [His mom & dad died before he was 15yo.] who became a man in the Civil War was a descendant from a Loyalist and a Patriot. Did he know? Were his ancestors turning over in their graves when he signed up?

So what DO you get when when a Loyalist line marries a Patriot Line? In this case, you get a Civil War vet and an awesome story. And me trying to document it all officially and write about it.

Next few posts, I'll be going through each person and the documentation I have, what I don't have, and how & where I plan to get it. I may even do it as a video tutorial so I can show you how I'm keeping up with it in Family Tree Maker 2012 software. 

Are you ready to see how this story unfolds? Do I have the right characters? Do I really know the ending?

I dunno. We'll just have to wait and see.

~Caroline