People, Locations, Episodes

Prince Estabrook, Patriot born

*The birth of Prince Estabrook is celebrated on this date in 1741. He was a Black slave and Minutemen Private Patriot. Born in Ashby, Massachusetts, he belonged to the family of Benjamin Estabrook, from whom he took his last name. He enlisted in the Lexington Militia in 1773.  On April 19, 1775, he was one […]

Thomas Jefferson, Politician, and Slave Owner born

*Thomas Jefferson was born on this date in 1743.  He was a white-American slave owner, diplomat, lawyer, architect, politician, and Founding Father of the United States of America.   Part of the First Families of Virginia (FFV), he was born at the family home in Shadwell in the (then) Colony of Virginia, where he was the third of ten children. He was of English descent and […]

Toussaint Louverture , Haitian Abolitionist born

*Toussaint Louverture was born on this date in 1743. He was a Black Haitian general and abolitionist.   François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture is thought to have been born on the plantation of Bréda at Haut de Cap in Saint-Domingue.   Louverture’s parents are not known. John Beard’s biography of Louverture claims that family traditions name his grandfather as from Southern Benin. […]

Barzillai Lew, Colonial Soldier born

*Barzillai Lew was born on this date in 1743. He was a Black soldier and musician. Barzillai Lew’s story began with Primus Lew of Groton, Massachusetts, and Margret Lew. Primus and Margret Lew married in 1742 as free blacks, and they had two sons and two daughters. Primus was a musician in the French and […]

Sophie Charlotte, Black Queen of England born

*Princess Sophie Charlotte was born on this date in 1744. She was the second Black Queen of England.

Richard Pierpoint, Soldier born

*The birth of Richard Pierpoint is celebrated on this date in c. 1744.  Also known as Black Dick, Captain Dick, Captain Pierpoint was a Black British soldier. Richard Pierpoint was born in Bundu, what is now Senegal.  When he was about sixteen, he was captured and sold as a slave. He survived the crossing of the Atlantic and was sold to a […]

Benjamin Rush, Diplomat born

*Benjamin Rush was born on this date in 1746.  He was a white-American abolitionist, physician, and diplomat. His interpretation of white privilege of race has raised many ethical questions.   The fourth of John and Susanna (Hall) Rush’s seven children, he was raised and spent most of his life in Philadelphia. His mother, a Presbyterian, first supervised […]

Theodore Sedgwick, Lawyer and Slave Owner born.

*Theodore Sedgwick was born on this date in 1746. He was a white-American attorney, slave owner, and politician. Born in West Hartford in the Connecticut Colony, Sedgwick was the son of Benjamin Sedgwick. His paternal immigrant ancestor, Major General Robert Sedgwick, arrived in 1636 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Sedgwick attended Yale College, where he […]

James Lafayette, Patriot born

*James Lafayette’s birth in 1748 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black slave and American patriot.

Born on William Armistead’s New Kent County farm, in 1781 he received permission to leave his master’s service and volunteer with the American forces under the Marquis de Lafayette, (a young French general and American ally). During this time the British had devastated Richmond, looting and burning much of the city and chasing the Virginia legislature from the Capitol; thus the Generals offer to assist the small army came at a critical time.

Peter Salem, American Patriot born

The birth of Peter Salem in 1750 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black soldier and patriot.

Though Salem’s birth year is not certain, he was born a slave in Framingham, MA. His owner, Jeremiah Belknap, named him after his hometown of Salem, MA. In America’s early years, Massachusetts, monitoring an insurrection by Blacks, made it illegal for them to serve in the military. When the need for soldiers increased during the French and Indian Wars, Blacks were pressed into military duty. In mid-1775, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety recruited only free Blacks.

Salem Poor, American Patriot born

The birth of Salem Poor around 1750 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black patriot during the Revolutionary War.

Poor was a free Negro in Andover, MA. He left his wife when he went off to war to fight for the American Revolution. He enlisted under Captain Benjamin Ames in Colonel Fryes’ regiment. He fought at Bunker Hill and is credited with shooting down British Lieutenant Colonel James Abercrombie.

Joseph Brant, Slave Owner, and Military Officer born

*Joseph Brant was born on this date in 1743.  He was a Native American Mohawk chief, a Christian missionary, an African slave trader, and a British military officer.   Brant was born near the Ohio River and given the Indian name of Thayendanegea, meaning “he places two bets.” He inherited the status of Mohawk chief from his […]

Don Miguel Hidalgo, Revolutionary Leader born

*Don Miguel Hidalgo was born on this date in 1753. He was a Criollo Catholic priest, educator, and revolutionary military leader. Commonly known as Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or Miguel Hidalgo, he was the second-born child of Don Cristóbal Hidalgo y Costilla Espinoza de los Monteros and Doña Ana María Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor, both criollos. On […]

Alexander Hamilton, Slaveowner and Statesman born

*Alexander Hamilton was born on this date in 1755. He was a white-American American revolutionary, slave owner, statesman, and Founding Father of the United States. Alexander Hamilton was born out of wedlock in Charlestown, Nevis, West Indies. He was orphaned as a child and taken in by a prosperous merchant. Hamilton spent his teenage years working […]

Primus Hall, Soldier, and School Master born

*Primus Hall was born on this date in 1756. He was a soldier and schoolmaster. He was born into slavery in Boston to Prince and Delia Hall, a domestic servant and an enslaved man owned by William Hall until his freedom in 1770. His father, Prince Hall, was an abolitionist, Revolutionary War soldier, and founder of […]