Cato Newell

Quick Facts

Significance:

Patriot of Color at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Place of Birth:

Charlestown, Massachusetts(?)

Date of Birth:

Circa 1752

The following is from the 2004 National Park Service study Patriots of Color researched and prepared by George Quintal:

Cato Newell was born circa 1752.^I

He enlisted as a matross on 13 May 1775 in the company of Capt. Joseph Chadwick, in Col. Richard Gridley’s regiment of artillery. The descriptive roll of the company, dated Fort No. 3 Charlestown, lists him as follows:

age: 23
occupation: baker
residence: Charlestown

On 21 November he is recorded on an ‘order for bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated Fort No.3.’^II

He was married on 16 October 1782 in Chelmsford to Dinah Toney.^III

Footnotes:

1. Birth date backwardly-computed, based on age in military descriptive
2. Secretary of Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (1896-1908), 11:345. Also 2-CD Family Tree Maker^TM set “Military Records: Revolutionary War.”
3. Vital Records to 1850. Births, Marriages and Deaths. Vols for most Massachusetts towns, Charlestown, 495; also Vital Records to 1850. Births, Marriages and Deaths. Vols for most Massachusetts towns, Chelmsford, 353, under ‘NEGROES.’

Learn more about Quintal's study.