Category Archives: Enslaved People

The Fate of the Black Loyalists of Fairfield County, CT, Part 2

Abraham Hammond, Aesop Moses, African American Loyalists, Afro-Indigenous Loyalists, Alexander Stewart, Andrew Bush, Andrew Izzard, Annapolis, Anthony, Anthony Barton, Benjamin Marston, Benjamin Stanton, Benjamin Thompson, Birchtown, Black Settlements in Canada, Brindley Town, Bush-Holley House, Canada, Captain James Hughston, Captain James Lyon, Catherine, Cato Cannon, Charity Morris, Charles Francis, Charles Richards, Colonel Perry, Connecticut Loyalists, Connecticut Merchant Marine families, CT Loyalists, Cuff Bush, Cuff Fairchild, David Bush, David Coley, David Raymond, Digby, Dr. Francis Forgue, Dr. William Bush, Eanus Deaton, Ebenezer Coley, Edward and Mary Ann Morris, Edward Godfrey, Edward Lloyd, Edward Morris, Emmanuel Jarvis, Enslaved People, Francis Clements, Free Blacks, Fyler Dibblee, Gabriel DeVeber, General Birch Certificates, General William Howes 1777 Order, Genetic Genealogy, George Fairfield, George Leonard, George Stevens, Glasglow Griggs, Guysborough, Henry and Phebe Lyon, Horseneck, Hoyt, Hubbard, Hyde, II, Indigenous Loyalists, Isaac Johnson, Ishmael Coley, Jack Coley, Jack Hide, James Grayson, James Jackson, James Legree, James Nicols, Job Bartram, John Cannon, John Ketcham, John Lloyd, John Prior, Jonathan Buckley, Joseph Cromwell, Joseph Taylor, Judith Griggs, Judith Stewart, Kate and daughter, Kemble Manor, Ketcham, King American Dragoons, Liverpool Slave Trade, Lloyd's Manor, Long Island, Lord Dunmores Proclamation, Loyalist Transporters, Malagasy Diaspora, Malagasy Roots, Malagasy Roots Project, Mary Legree, Michael Cox, Milkish Settlement, Morris-Bush Family, Moses, Nancy and Flora Bartram, Nathaniel Hubbard, Nathaniel Hubbell, Native American Loyalists, Ned Morris, New Brunswick, New Castle, New York City, Nova Scotia, Peter Cock, Peter Cox, Phillip Nichols, Phyllis Ketcham, Phyllis Lyon, Polly Dibblee, Port Mouton, Preston, Prince Buckley, Prince Perry, Revolutionary War, Robert Gibson, Rogers, Rose Fortune, Samuel Brothers, Samuel Ives, Samuel Ketchum, Shelburne, Sierra Leone, Silas Holley, Simon White, Sir Guy Carlton, Sir Henry Clinton's 1779 Phillipsburg Proclamation, Slavery in NJ, Slavery in NY, son of Charity Morris, St. John, Stephen Kemble, Suffolk County, Sukey, The Black Brigade, The Black Pioneers, The Book of Negroes, The Byram African-American Cemetery, The Ethiopian Regiment, Thomas Francis, Thomas Lagare, Thomas Marren, Thomas Rogers, Titus Cornelius, Tom Hide, Toney Barton, Toney Bartram, Tracadie, Transatlantic Slave Trade, Treaty of Paris, Unus Deaton, Venus Legree, War of Independence, West Indies Trade, William and Diana Carden, Zimri Armstrong

Here is Part 2 of a 2-part article on The Fate of the Black Loyalists of Fairfield County, CT. Part 1 of this article series lays the groundwork to understanding the position that Black Loyalists found themselves in while serving the British Crown. Part 2 tells the individual stories of what happened to some of the Black Loyalists from Fairfield County, Connecticut, after they arrived in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada, and Sierra Leone. I approach this topic as a family historian-genealogist and a descendant of enslaved/formerly enslaved African and Indigenous peoples who served as Black Patriots and Black Loyalists in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. I believe that their remarkable contributions to both the United States and Britain have been overlooked. It is important to recognize that their acts of resistance and agency positioned them as the
“Founding Fathers” in the US and Canada.

While this article does not provide a comprehensive overview of Connecticut Loyalists’
involvement in the War, it offers a snapshot of the significant events that Black Loyalists of Fairfield County faced. Their fates highlight how the promises made to them by the Loyalists ultimately turned out to be grand gestures that led to a false sense of freedom. While some may view Black Loyalists as “the losers’ losers,” we regard them as heroes for pursuing liberty, freedom, and justice in the face of great odds. The decision they all made to take a chance on freedom is perhaps the most American of all stories.

The full article can be read here: The Fate of the Black Loyalists of Fairfield County, Part 2.

A Revolutionary Breakthrough: Discovering Our Van Salee Lineage

Abraham Jansen Van Salee, Abram Jansen Van Salee, African-Native, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Afro-Dutch, Afro-Indigenous, American Revolution, Antonia Freeman Snyder, Black Patriot, Cartagena, Colonial New York, Dewint, DeWints, Enslaved People, Fez, Francisco Bastian, Frans Abrams Van Salee, Fredericus Blauvelt, Freeman, Graham, Isabela Frans Salomons, Jan Jansen Van Haarlem, Johannes DeWint, M23, M23 Haplogroup, Malagasy Diaspora, Manuel de Gerrit de Reus, Margarita Al-Shabi, Moriscos, Mudejars, Netherlands, Piggery, Ramapough Mountains, Rebecca, Reis Morad, Samuel Freeman, Sarah Van Salee, Sealy, Sebastian de Brillo, Selea, Spain, Susanne Simons, Tun Snyder, Van Salea, Van sallea, Van Sile, Van Sorlay, Van Sylle, Van Zylle

Over the past few years, my cousin Andrea and I have made some remarkable discoveries that have taken one of our family lines directly back to New Amsterdam. On June 28, 2023, my first article was published in The Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. You can click here to read it: A Revolutionary Breakthrough_Discovering Our Van Salee Lineage_Teresa Vega

For those wanting to know more about the Munsee and African presence in New Amsterdam/Colonial New York, please consider taking this Walking Tour  that Russell Shorto has put together. I was happy to see Manuel Plaza, named after my 9th great-grandfather, Manuel de Gerritt de Reus, on this list.