To all my fellow culture bearers, public educators, I urge you to share this exhibition review widely across your social networks. It highlights the challenges we are likely to face as we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding. This form of historical erasure should be firmly opposed and excluded from school curricula, as it distorts and undermines documented American history. The omission of John “Rifle Jack” Peterson and Moses Sherwood from Treason of the Darkest Dye: The True History of André, Arnold, and the Three Honest Militiamen should be addressed and corrected before any future showings. As descendants of the Peterson family from both sides of the Hudson River, we believe the exhibition revealed the curators’ arbitrary and capricious decision-making.
Denial is a hidden river that runs parallel to the Hudson, weaving its way through time and memory. From time to time, it surfaces on maps significant only to those who seek it, requiring a discerning eye to recognize its full glory, especially where two rivers meet.[1] Some dismiss it as a mythical place, a realm of legends, but others know it holds truths waiting to be uncovered. For our people, this place is the Ramapo Mountains.
Thirty years ago, my Grandad’s first Cousin Yvonne entrusted me with her genealogical archives and oral history knowing that our family story needed to be preserved. A decade later, I was blessed to meet my Cousin Helen. At 98, she greeted me with, “Now I can die in peace for I’ve met my mother’s people.” I laughed and said, “No, you can’t, because I just met you.” She went on to tell me how her father used to take her to the Ramapo Mountains after her mother’s death, saying “This is where your mother’s people are from, before visiting her mother’s cousin’s shoe store in Newark. That cousin was my great-grandfather.
In September of 2016, our “Colored” ancestors, grabbed me by my ankles and never let me go. They pulled me into their stories, demanding to be rescued from the unmarked graveyards of history. We were the ones they had been waiting for. The voices of our ancestors must never go unheeded because they are always with us. There is no separation between those of us who walk in the land of the living and those who have transitioned onward.
Whose Historical Perspective?
“they ask me to remember but they want me to remember their memories and I keep on remembering mine.” – Lucille Clifton[2]
In American Founders: How People of African Descent Established Freedom in the New World, Christina Proenza-Coles states:
“Historical narratives shape how we imagine our place in the world. Much of American historiography has limited African Americans to a few roles, usually related to slavery or the civil rights movement, and generally gives the impression that mainstream history is the patrimony of white people. However, if we turn up the lights on our history, it become evident that people of color were there at every point and not just as passive observers. The distinction between American history and African American history is imaginary.” [3]
The production of knowledge is a contested space. Many historians and archivists present the books and historical documents they reference as the “definitive truth,” ignoring critical inquiry into the historical context in which these materials were created. Some historians and archivists also overlook the reality that marginalized people had no voice in shaping how they were portrayed by those who controlled the narrative while others embrace and advocate for more inclusive historical narratives.[4]
My Cousin Tamela and I had the chance to visit the recently ended Treason of the Darkest Dye: The True Story of Arnold, André, and Three Honest Militiamen exhibition at The Coach Barn at the Pocantico Center in Tarrytown, New York. Curated by Revolutionary Westchester 250, this exhibition aimed to shed light on pivotal moments and figures of the Revolutionary War.[5] As a member of the Rye250 Committee and an invitee to the New York State 250 Committee ─ roles I hold in recognition of my ancestors’ 400+ years of history in this region ─ I was deeply disheartened by the glaring omission of John “Rifle Jack” Peterson and Moses Sherwood’s contributions to the story of The HMS Vulture (hereafter referred to as The Vulture). Their relegation to a mere footnote on the final page of the brochure was a profound disservice to their patriotic legacies and sacrifices.
This was a missed opportunity to showcase already-known key actors in this event as they had been memorialized and celebrated in the past, including by DAR.[6] It was also a disservice to the students who attended the exhibit because they were denied a more accurate, clearer picture of other key players in this even. As a public educator and advisor to The Witness Stones Project, I educate both teachers and students about the lives of enslaved and Free Blacks who were part of their local communities.[7] At the end of the school year, the students honor the memories of people of African and Native descent they studied with “witness stones” that reflect their humanity.
For the past four years, I have collaborated with teachers and students in conjunction with The Rye Historical Society, The Greenwich Historical Society, and Wayside Cottage.[8] The schools we work with have undoubtedly benefited from these additional narratives that for far too long have been hidden from history. In 2024, such erasure is simply unacceptable.
As a Daughter of Color in the Manhattan Chapter of the DAR [9] it was particularly troubling to see the only mention of a person of color– an unnamed “Black servant” of Joshua Hett Smith, who accompanied General Benedict Arnold to meet Major John André in the Long Clove grove in Rockland County, New York. While I understand this was likely unintentional, the optics were clear: the apparent takeaway seems to be that people of color were either enslaved or servants. Their significant roles were ignored, thereby diminishing not only John Peterson, but also the over 5,000 other Black Patriots who contributed to the war effort.[10] By including Black Patriots in the exhibit, it would have provided a fuller history of these events to the general public.
Moreover, the inclusion of Study of a Black Man as a generic representation of Arnold’s unnamed “Black servant,” is both misleading and inaccurate. The artwork was incorrectly titled; the proper name is Portrait of a Man, Probably Francis Barber, ca 1770, painted by Joshua Reynolds.[11] This error underscores a broader issue of historical erasure and misrepresentation, where Black figures ─ enslaved and free ─ are often reduced to vague stereotypes or overlooked entirely, rather than being given their rightful place as individuals with names, identities, and significant roles in history. Such missteps diminish the importance of these individuals and hinder our collective understanding of the complexity and nuance of the Revolutionary era.
The inclusion of Arnold’s servant in the exhibition left me perplexed. While the display sought to highlight pivotal moments surrounding André’s capture, this servant, though a witness, played only a minor role in the events. This raises an important question: why wasn’t General George Washington’s “mixed race” valet, William (Billy) Lee featured instead?[12] The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) houses John Trumbull’s 1780 painting titled George Washington and William Lee, which immortalizes Lee’s integral presence. For over two decades, Lee accompanied Washington in every capacity, from delivering critical military messages to others to serving meals ─ even to key witnesses like Joshua Hett Smith, who was imprisoned under investigation following André’s capture.[13] Lee’s steadfast service and contributions unquestionably mark him as a Black Patriot. Emancipated in Washington’s will, he was buried at Mount Vernon. His omission from the exhibition underscores the crucial interplay between narrative construction and visual representation in shaping historical memory.
To Erase or Not to Erase is the question…
As the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States approaches, the Treason exhibition serves as a telling precursor to what African American and Native American communities might anticipate from some museums, historical societies, and commemorative organizations. These places all wield significant powers in shaping collective memory by deciding whose stories are told and how they are told.[14] This authority can be a double-edge sword offering opportunities of inclusion and also perpetuating inequalities by erasing, distorting, discarding, and misrepresenting the histories of marginalized people ─ such as our ancestor, John “Rifle Jack” Peterson.
In contrast, the Treason exhibition’s shortcomings highlight the importance of institutions like the Greenwich Historical Society, whose current exhibition, Greenwich during the Revolutionary War: A Frontier Town on the Front Line (October 16, 2024-March 9, 2025), embraces diverse perspectives of the American Revolution. Similarly, the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum in Upper Manhattan, located within the Neutral Ground during the American Revolution, consistently integrates diverse narratives in its programming, demonstrating how inclusive storytelling can enrich our understanding of history.[15]
As descendants, we have a moral obligation to represent and defend the memory of our ancestors in our lifetimes. Shortly after viewing the exhibition in mid-October, I raised my concerns about the omission of John Peterson and Moses Sherwood in a letter to Revolutionary Westchester 250 but received no response from them.[16] To voice my dissatisfaction, I resorted to back-channel communications, which eventually led to a Zoom meeting with the two local curators.
Due to schedule conflicts, the meeting was delayed until December 5, 2024. My two cousins and I attended, along with an archivist from the Rye Historical Society and the two exhibit curators. During the meeting, we were informed that there was no interest in mentioning John Peterson and Moses Sherwood. They said they were still searching for additional primary source documents to verify the so-called “fantastical account” of Peterson and Sherwood’s firing on The Vulture under a false flag of truce.[17]
The construction of the Treason exhibit itself deliberately obscures John “Rifle Jack” Peterson and Moses Sherwood’s contributions by beginning the exhibition’s narrative on September 22, 1780, with “The True Story of André, Arnold, and the Three Honest Militiamen.”[18] This framing effectively erases the actions of Peterson and Sherwood, whose firing on a barge and a gunboat near The Vulture on the evening of September 20 and the early morning of the 21st, 1780, set in motion the chain of events leading to Major André’s capture and the exposure of Arnold’s treason two days later.
Letters between Colonel James Livingston and Colonel John Lamb show Livingston’s request for ammunition for a four-pound cannon used during the early hours of September 20th were cited as proof that Peterson and Sherwood did not fire a cannon. However, this does not conclusively prove it was the only cannon used during the early hours of September 21st ─ a chaotic time when both sides were heavily armed.
Ignoring John Peterson and Moses Sherwood’s pivotal roles diminishes their rightful place in history and distorts the larger story of these crucial events.
Crafting the True Story of The Vulture: John “Rifle Jack” Peterson and Moses Sherwood
I cannot speak for Moses Sherwood, but I can, as a descendant, speak on behalf of John Peterson. The omission of John Peterson from the Treason of the Blackest Dye exhibit on the grounds that he did not mention certain events in his pension record is short sighted.[19] John was illiterate and unable to control how his story was documented. Thankfully, oral histories passed down by Sherwood family members provide critical accounts of key events, including the firing on The Vulture.[20] We also have our family oral history, his 1837 court deposition, and John’ Peterson’s own words in three interviews he gave to local historian James McDonald between 1845-1847.[21] Although his words are filtered through the lens of the interviewers, this remains the closest we can come to hearing John Peterson’s voice directly.
It is important to recognize John “Rifle Jack,” Peterson’s significant contributions during the Revolutionary War.[22] He served in some of the most important battles of the American Revolution, including fighting in the Battles of Stillwater (Saratoga), Monmouth, and Newtown. John was with Lt. Col. Isaac Sherwood in 1777 when Sherwood was fatally wounded, and he accompanied his body to Albany, NY for burial. On September 20 and 21, 1780, he stood alongside Moses Sherwood during the firing on The Vulture, which precipitated the capture of Major André and exposed Benedict’ Arnold’s treachery. On December 2, 1781, John Peterson and Job Sherwood were captured together during a skirmish in Harrison, NY by Capt. Samuel Kipp. After being held in Morrisania, NY, they were transferred to the Livingston Sugar House in New York City.[23] The Sherwood family’s fervent defense of John Peterson and Moses Sherwood’s patriotism also likely stemmed from the fact that, unlike the three militiamen, their heroism regarding The Vulture went unrecognized and unrewarded by Congress at that time. In comparison, Paulding, Williams, and Van Wart were each awarded a Fidelity Medal by Congress, an annual pension of $200 dollars and the state of New York gave them each a farm valued at £500.[24]
Remarkably, John had already faced Captain Kipp months earlier as his prisoner and had escaped from him. In this skirmish, John bayoneted Kipp despite being told to hold the line. His re-capture by Capt. Kipp led to his imprisonment in the notorious HMS Jersey, a British prison ship docked at the Brooklyn Naval Yard. Demonstrating extraordinary courage, John escaped the Jersey ─ a feat that few survived. General Phillip Van Courtlandt later gave him a house and some land in Courtland Manor for his service.
Giving these undeniable facts, the erasure of John “Rifle Jack” Peterson and Moses Sherwood from the historical narrative of the Treason exhibit demands scrutiny. Those committed to an accurate understanding of our nation’s founding must question why their heroic acts in the firing on The Vulture remain marginalized.
In Black Patriot ( Afro-Indigenous-Kitchawan Wappinger) Patriot John Jacob Peterson’s own words:
On his birthplace, as noted in his October 19,1848 McDonald interview:
“My real name is Patterson, and I was born in New Jersey opposite Spuyten Dyvel Creek in the state of New York. My father’s place where I was born was on the banks of the Hudson River.”
On his military service, as noted in his October 12, 1845, McDonald interview:
“Prince Sackett, a slave (that is a negro) of Captain Sackett belonging to our company, stood firm, but he was a little afraid of the bullets. I, on the contrary, had no such fear about me.” I was then very rash.”
In his 1837 court deposition regarding Moses Sherwood’s contested will, when asked why he went to see Moses Sherwood, he stated:
“I meant to apply to the government to get a little more for that service driving off the barge, I done it for the good of my country.”
Question: How many weeks did you ever go to school, or receive schooling?
“I can’t tell you; I never went to school in all my life, I have been eighty years in my Masters service.”
Endnotes:
[1] Lenapehoking is the territory that encompasses New Jersey, parts of New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and southwest Connecticut. However, I use it to specifically refer to “Hackinksáquik,” an area that covers Bergen County, New Jersey, Rockland and Dutchess counties, New York. This is located between the Hudson and Passaic Rivers. See Grumet, Robert S., Manhattan to Minisink: American Indian Place Names in Greater New York and Vicinity, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013). p. 50.
[2] Lucille Clifton, “why some people be mad at me sometimes, “in The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010, ed. Karen Young and Michael S. Glaser ( Rochester, NY: BOE Editions, LTD, 2012), 262.
[3] Proenza-Coles, Christina. American Founders: How people of African Descent Established Freedom in the New World, (Montgomery, AL: NewSouth Press, 2019), xv. Please note that other under-represented and marginalized groups were also active participants in the development of this nation.
[4] For further reading, Ana Lucia Araujo, Slavery in the Age of Memory: Engaging the Past (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020); Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples, 3rd ed. (London: Zed Books, 2021); Azoulay, Arella Aisha, Potential History: Unlearning Imperialism (London: New Left Press, 2019); and Trouillot, Michel-Rolph, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History, 20th Anniversary edition (Boston: Beacan Press, 2015).
[5] See https://www.rw250.org/news-events/special-event-treason-of-the-blackest-dye-exhibition
[6] See https://highlandscurrent.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Black-History.pdf;
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=23356; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Peterson_(American_Patriot); and https://jayheritagecenter.org/2020/07/05/musicals-and-monuments-what-hamilton-missed/ ; Selig, Robert A. Water Trails of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route: National Historic Trail in the Hudson River Valley in 1781 and 1782. Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, 2020, p. 104-105; and Patrick Raftery on behalf of Westchester County Historical Society. “Jack Peterson Memorial.” Clio: Your Guide to History. June 29, 2020 (https://theclio.com/entry/107287 ).
[7] https://witnessstonesproject.org/
[8] See https://www.ryehistory.org/new-page-1, https://greenwichhistory.org/witness-stones/, and https://www.scarsdalelibrary.org/media/document/2661
[9] http://www.manhattannsdar.org/
[10] Throughout this article, I use the terms “Black Loyalists” and “Black Patriots” to refer to people who were of African, Indigenous, Afro-Indigenous, or mixed-race descent. See Vega, Teresa, “Repairing Erasure: Indigenous Identity and Paper Genocide” in The Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Winter Edition, Vol 41, 2024, pp. 81-92.
[11] See https://www.menil.org/collection/objects/2829-portrait-of-a-man-probably-francis-barber
[12] See https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12822
[13] See https://washingtonpapers.org/a-glimpse-of-william-billy-lee-george-washingtons-enslaved-manservant/ . It should also be noted that Lee’s skin-color in this iconic painting does not reflect the fact that his father was a White-male descendant of the Lee Family, one of the “First Families” of Virginia.
[14] See Fernandez-Sacco, Ellen, “Framing “The Indian’: The Visual Culture of Conquest in the Museums of Pierre Eugene Du Simitiere and Charles Wilson Peale, 1775-96, Social Identities, *, no. 4 (2002): 571-618. Fernandez-Sacco’s article discusses how museums and historical societies perpetuate collective amnesia when it comes to establishing nation-building narratives.
[15] See https://dyckmanfarmhouse.org/about/#
[16] See https://www.dar.org/national-society/media-center/news-releases/national-society-daughters-american-revolution-and regarding the National Society’s mandate to support “efforts to better tell the story of underrepresented and diverse Patriots who helped to win the American War of Independence.”
[17] See “ Recollections of the Revolution” by Robert E Ward., Albany Argus, March 15, 1833., p. 2. Ward presented his speech to the Albany Institute where he emphatically stated that “Happily for us that arrival of Major André] was never to take place: and the fortunate prevention of it has been attributed to Williams, Paulding, and Van Wart, his captors. The strong probability, however, is, that had not the facts occurred which I am about to mention, the capture never would have taken place because, in that even, he [André] never would have been in a situation to be captured.” Ward then discusses Peterson and Sherwood’s participation in this event and concludes, “Thus West Point, the Gibraltar of the New York, owes its safety, in fact, not to the captors of the spy, but to those who were instrumental in putting him in the way of being captured.” The role of John Peterson and Moses Sherwood’s in the firing on The Vulture is no “fantastical account” as we were told.
[18] Ibid., See also reprint of The Sing Sing (Ossining, NY) Republican’s article “Revolutionary Incidents in the Weekly Anglo-African, October 15, 1859, p. 1; and “Tappan Tavern,” Peekskill Evening Star, June 18, 1938, p. 20.
[19] Please note that John Peterson’s pension record information was completed by Aaron Ward, Esq. in 1818. See his full pension record here: John Patterson Pension Record, 1818, Survivor’s Pension Application File, New York, File No. M804, Roll 1887, 20 pages; NARA microfilm publication M804, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Application Files, 1800–1900; National Archives, Washington, D.C. (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1995/records/46445?tid=5418089&pid=292602597936&queryId=d8834f41-695d-40d9-95cd-6d28ce22f8af&_phsrc=SVw16245&_phstart=successSource). For his 1837 court deposition in regarding Moses Sherwood’s contested will, see https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L992-39XN-L?view=fullText&groupId=TH-1971-28503-37480-33 . Peter Valentine Sherwood, Moses Sherwood’s 4X great-grandson, also mentioned both Jack Patterson and Moses Sherwood’s firing on The Vulture on September 21, 1780, in his U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Application (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2204/images/32596_242075-00473?pId=124779) .
[20] Refer to footnote 17.
[21]John Peterson, interviews by McDonald, October 30, 1845, pp. 231–33; October 12, 1846, pp. 442–44; and October 19, 1847, pp. 549–50, Hufeland Collection, Westchester County Historical Society.
[22] John Peterson served in the 2nd Regiment Continental Army for three years under Captain Samuel
Pell and General Philip Van Cortlandt followed by Nine months in the Levies. He continued to serve as a militiaman afterwards.
[23] John Peterson was captured by Captain Kipp who sent him to the Livingston Sugar House prison in NYC where he met Francis Conkin, a neighbor from the same town, who was also a prisoner there. He served as a witness in Conklin’s pension application. Peterson was later transferred to the HMS Jersey. See Francis Conklin Pension Record,” Hester Conklin, Pension No. W. 18921, service in New York, Revolutionary War; NARA microfilm publication M804, Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, compiled ca. 1800–ca. 1912, documenting the period ca. 1775–ca. 1900, Record Group 15, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; https://www.fold3.com/image/13942412/conklin-francis-page-14-us-revolutionary-war-pensions-1800-1900; See McDonald interviews where he mentions being captured with Job Sherwood. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2204/images/32596_242075-00473?pId=124779
[24] John Peterson’s monthly pension allowance was $8/month. See Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Pensioners, 1801-1815, 1818-1872 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.In addition, John’s pay during the war was sent to Job Sherwood, however, it is unclear if Job Sherwood gave the pay to Peterson. See Fold3. “Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783.” National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Publication Number M246, Record Group 93. Hamman’s Regiment of Militia, 1777-82. https://www.fold3.com/image/10075643/108-page-54-us-revolutionary-war-rolls-1775-1783.
