This blog post is dedicated to Nora Gavin, the outgoing editor of Connecticut Ancestry. It was both an honor and a pleasure to have her edit all five of my articles on Black Loyalists. I applaud her steadfast commitment to advocating for a more inclusive understanding of American history.
As the Revolutionary War drew to a close a close in 1783, thousands of Black Loyalists from Westchester and Dutchess Counties faced the agonizing uncertainty of what freedom might mean beyond the battlefields they had once known. Some had fled bondage in the chaos of war, others had served in Loyalist militias or sought refuge behind British lines. Many clung to the promises made by the Crown—that freedom, land, and safety awaited them in British-held territories. Yet, as this third and final installment of The Fate of the Black Loyalists reveals, the journey to freedom did not end with evacuation.
For those who boarded ships bound for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and beyond, freedom was fragile, conditional, and often undermined. Some were re-enslaved or indentured. Others disappeared from the record entirely, leaving behind only fragments of testimony in documents like The Book of Negroes. Through the stories of individuals and families —Statia, the Marshalls, the Jarrett brothers, and many others —we trace the haunting afterlife of war, where the line between liberty and captivity was perilously thin.
In documenting these lives, we are reminded that freedom was not a singular moment but an ongoing struggle—one that continues to echo across generations.
The conclusion to this 3-part series can be read here by clicking on the link: Black Loyalists of Westchester and Dutchess Counties, New York – Conclusion
