Apr 25, 2008 — During the Revolutionary War, thousands of Americans fought their own friends and neighbors in support of British rule. They lost and were driven away, largely vanishing from the pages of history books. Most headed north across Eastern Canada. The village of Burritts Rapids, on Ontario's Rideau River, was named for its first white settler, Vermont Loyalist Stephen Burritt. Canadian writer Mark Jodoin will detail Burritt's adventurous life next Tuesday evening at the Merrickville and District Historical Society's Annual Dinner. Jodoin discussed Burritt, his turbulent times, and the region's many cross-border ties with Ottawa correspondent, Lucy Martin, along the banks of the Long Island Locks near Manotick, Ontario.