Jamaica James

Quick Facts

Significance:

Patriot of Color at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Place of Birth:

Boston, Massachusetts(?)

Date of Birth:

Circa 1754

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

 

Jamaica James was born circa 1754.^I

His name does not appear in the 1775 rolls, nor does he mention his 1775 unit in his pension application, yet he was at the Battle of Bunker Hill as was described by one of his 1782 officers:^II

Jamaica James showed me the wound of a Ball in the left arm which he received at Bunker Hill 1775 but he has lost much of his recollection.

Jamaica James applied for his pension at Orange county (NY) on 4 February 1819, being described as a ‘Blackman aged sixty two years.’ He further stated:^III

That he … Enlisted, in the year 1777 … in the Town of Boston in the Company Commanded by Captain Lunts in the tenth Massachusetts Regiment Commanded by Colonel Tupper and that he continued to Serve in the said Company and Regt. for … the Term of three years, and at the expiration of the three years aforesaid, he then Enlisted in the same Company and in the Same Regiment Commanded by Colonel Tupper – for and during the Revolutionary War – and he continued to Serve as aforesaid untill the Month of June 1783, when peace was made with Great Britain when he was Honorably discharged by General Washington at the Cantonment near New Windsor near Newburgh … that he was in the battle at Trenton in the year 1776 in Dec. when General Washington Captured the Hessians – and that he is in reduced Circumstances and Stands in need of Assistance of his Country for Support … I was at the taking and Capture of General Burgoine & his army & went to Guard the prisoners to Boston.

The pension was awarded at the rate of $96 per year. He reapplied for his pension on 31 May 1820, then ‘sixty seven years’ and still residing at Orange county. He further stated:^IV

When the 10 Regt was broken up or reduced I was transferred into Capt Marshalls company Colonel Voses Regt it being the 1^st Massachusetts Regt …

He was married and had at least one child:^V

• daughter, name unknown, bca. 1812

Footnotes:

1. Birth date backwardly-computed, based on age in pension application; Age 62 in 1818 [bca. 1756] and age 67 in 1820 [bca. 1753] - a compromise birthdate of 1754 was used. NOTE: There is a very good chance that this man is the same man as Charles Jarvis.
2. United States Revolutionary War Pensions, NARA, Record Group 15, Series M804. 2670 rolls, Roll 1404, Pension #S44984, Frame 529; affidavit of Levi Dodge.
3. Ibid, Frames 519-520.
4. Ibid, Frames 521.
5. Ibid, Frame 521.

Learn more about Quintal's study.