Category Archives: Fowler

Freedom, Fortune, and Family: Remembering the Abolitionists Quaker Hannah Pugsley and Black Hannah Pugsley of New Rochelle, New York, Part 1

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I dedicate this blog post to the memory of those Quakers who strove to uphold their principles of neutrality during the Revolutionary War, a time when taking sides meant everything. I also dedicate this blog post to all my ancestors who literarily built this country out of muck and mire.

This article reclaims a long-overlooked chapter in New York’s abolitionist history by reexamining the intertwined lives of two extraordinary women: Quaker Hannah Pugsley (1760-1831) and Black Hannah Pugsley (1866- ?) of New Rochelle. Drawing on oral history and uncovered documentary sources, I argue that Quaker Hannah Pugsley—whose moral convictions and courageous actions have yet to be formally recognized—must be considered an abolitionist. Her commitment to Black freedom extended beyond rhetoric: she provided financial support for the founding of the Colored African Methodist Zion Church in 1840, a sanctuary built by New Rochelle’s free Black community that would later become St. Catherine’s AME Zion Church. This support placed her among a small but powerful circle of white allies who worked in tandem with free Black abolitionists. Black Hannah Pugsley and her family, for their part, played a critical role in rescuing Quaker Hannah from a violent mob during the Revolutionary War, a moment of interracial solidarity preserved in oral tradition.[2] Their shared legacy reveals early Underground Railroad activity in New Rochelle and underscores the collaborative resistance of families such as the Pugsleys, Francis, Browns, Serringtons Bonnets, among others, and Rev. John Dungy—founders of institutions that sustained the Black freedom struggle well into the 19th century. In recovering this narrative, we reshape our understanding of abolitionism in Westchester County, grounding it in community, mutual aid, and radical faith.

[1]In Westchester County, including New Rochelle, the term “Free Blacks” always included people of African, Indigenous, and Afro-Indigenous descent. Descendants today self-identify as “African American, Native American, mixed race or “White.”

The full article can be read here by clicking on the link: AAHGS-NE-Newsletter Spring 2025- Freedom Fortune and Family

Part 2 will be published in the next issue of AAHGS-NE Newsletter.

The Fate of the Black Loyalists of Westchester and Dutchess Counties, NY

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This multi-part series of articles provides the biographical sketches of Black Loyalists
from Westchester and Dutchess Counties, New York who supported the British Crown during the American Revolution. My previous Black Loyalists article in this journal  centered on Black Loyalists from Fairfield County, Connecticut, identifying individuals, and describing the turmoil in British-occupied New York City before their departure to Nova Scotia in 1783. This series shifts focus to those from neighboring Westchester and Dutchess Counties. Westchester County, known as “The Neutral Ground,” was a fiercely contested area between British-held New York City and the Patriot-controlled Lower Hudson Valley, while Dutchess County served as a critical base for the Continental Army and supply depots. Though this article does not aim to offer a comprehensive overview of the New York Loyalists' role in the war, it sheds light on pivotal moments that shaped the lives of Black Loyalists from these counties.  Much like their counterparts from Fairfield County, the fates of these individuals were sealed before they left New York City.

I approach this topic as a family historian-genealogist and a descendant of enslaved and formerly enslaved African and Indigenous peoples who served as Black Loyalists and Black Patriots in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Their remarkable contributions to both the United States and Britain have been overlooked. It is essential to recognize that their acts of resistance and agency positioned them as the “Founding Fathers” of both the United States and Canada. Enslaved and Free Blacks witnessed every major event that shaped the founding of this country. These individuals frequently traveled between New York City, Long Island, and surrounding towns and colonies with their enslavers and employers, whether on foot, horseback, or by ferry. They were not passive observers, unaware of their environment. On the contrary, enslaved and Free Blacks were active participants, engaging with historic events as they unfolded.

The full article can be read here by clicking on the link: The Fate of the Black Loyalists of Westchester and Dutchess Counties-Part 1 CA

Part 2 will be published in the next issue of Connecticut Ancestry.