Jude Hall was born circa 1747 in Exeter (NH). He was known for having immense physical strength. A newspaper article provides more details of his life:
| Slaves were kept, in pre-Revolution times, on the old Blake homestead where the writer was born in 1840 and the story of one slave in particular is preserved in the family traditions even after the days of the Revolution … Jude, himself, was sold by my ancestor, Philemon Blake, to a townsman, Nathaniel Healey, before the Revolution. He was not "old" Jude then and resented being sold and ran away from his new master. When the War of the Revolution broke out, he enlisted and fought on the Colonial side. After the war ended and the slaves were automatically freed, he came back to this vicinity, built a cabin in the Exeter woods, settled there and raised a family. [2 April 1826 Exeter News-Letter, Exeter (NH) Historical] |
He enlisted on 10 May 1775 into Capt. Jacob Hinds company, in Col. James Reed's regiment. With his company he was at the Battle of Bunker Hill where he 'was thrown headlong by a cannon ball striking near him'. We can assume that he was at Ticonderoga with his company and even possibly at Trenton.
In April 1777 he enlisted from Kensington, out of the 3rd NH regiment of militia, into the company of Capt. Elijah Clayes in Col. Nathan Hale's 2nd NH Continental regiment. This service was for three years. His regiment suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of Hubbardton (VT), on 7 July 1777, where his Colonel was captured. It also served at both battles at Saratoga in the fall of 1777, under Col. George Reid. His regiment also served at Valley Forge, at the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778 and on Sullivan's Expedition against the Iroquois in the summer of 1779. In December 1779 he reenlisted into Capt. William Rowell's company in the 2nd NH regiment of Col. George Reid, for a term 'during the war'. He served in 1780 and was listed on a February 1781 return. He was discharged in 1783.
The 1790 census of Exeter lists him as head in a household of five free people of color. Sadly, his three sons were captured and forced into slavery. An 1833 statement by Jude Hall's son-in-law, Robert Roberts, gives the details:
| JAMES HALL was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, and at the age of
eighteen years, was kidnapped by a man named David Wedgewood of Exeter,
but now resides at Greenland [NH]. By him (D.W.) he was taken, tied and
carried to Newburyport jail, and the next morning was put on board of a
vessel bound for New Orleans, and sold as a slave … He was taken from
his father's house at Exeter, in the absence of his father, by D.W., who
said that he owed him four dollars. His mother said that he was a minor,
and forbid him from taking him. Regardless to what she said, he bound and
carried him to Newburyport. He was seen, not long since, at New Orleans,
by George Ashton, a colored man, from Exeter; he said he was chained up
in the calaboose or jail, at New Orleans, as a run-away; and, in the mean
time, his master (a Frenchman from Kentucky) came, and commanded him to
be punished severely, and carried him back … AARON, another son of Jude Hall, in 1807, was kidnapped by some villain at Providence, Rhode Island, and has not been heard of since. At first, he went from this city to Providence, in order to get ready for sea; he went into a clothing store, and gave a due bill for a suit of sea clothes, which was twenty dollars; and, being unable to read or write, he made his cross for $200 instead of 20. And when he returned from sea, he started from Providence to carry his money to his father, and was overtaken to Roxbury (Mass.), on his way home, and carried back, sent to sea, and has not been heard of since. WILLIAM, a third son, went to sea in the barque Hannibal, of Newburyport. After arriving at the West Indies, was sold there as a slave; and, after remaining in slavery ten years, by some means run away, and is now in England, a captain of a collier from Newcastle to London. About three years ago, his mother heard of him, the first time for upwards of twenty years. His father was a pensioner of the United States, having served faithfully eight years, and fought in most all the battles, beginning with the Bunker Hill. He was called a great soldier, and was known in New Hampshire to the day of his death, by the name of "Old Rock." He was alive when James was first heard of in slavery; but he did not live to hear from William. Nobody has ever heard from Aaron. The above-named Jude Hall was my father-in-law, and my wife was his eldest child. I have often heard these facts from my mother-in-law, and others of the family; and I have made exertions to get information and give assistance to my brothers[-in-law] in their captivity, and so did my father[-in-law]; but was kept running from one lawyer and judge to another, until he died without being able to help either of his sons. |
Jude Hall applied for a U.S. Pension on 4 April 1818 and was awarded one at the rate of $96 per year. He reapplied on 28 June 1820, at which time he was required to provide an inventory of his property:
| One small one story house two rooms in it -- A few plates Earthen Shovel & Tongs A few other articles of furniture of small value |
He died in Exeter on 22 August 1827, at the age of 80.