Pompey Blackman (Fortune/Freeman)

Quick Facts

Significance:

Patriot of Color at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Place of Birth:

Concord, Massachusetts(?)

Date of Birth:

Circa 1755

Place of Death:

Jaffrey, New Hampshire

Date of Death:

May 20, 1790

Place of Burial:

Jaffrey, New Hampshire

Cemetery Name:

Presumably Jaffrey Center Burying Ground

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

Pompey was born circa 1755.^I He was known as either Pompey Fortune or Pompey Blackman until 1785 when he was known as Pomp Freeman.^II

He joined the eight month’s service from Concord in the company of Capt. John Baker, in Col. Samuel Gerrish’s regiment. He served out the end of 1775 in Capt. Joseph Pettengill’s company, Col. Loammi Baldwin’s regiment. The need for reinforcements just before the fortification of Dorchester Heights was probably the reason for a stint of four days service at Roxbury in early March 1776 in Capt. John Bridge’s company, Col. Eleazar Brook’s regiment.

As the attack on Canada crumbled, the call went out for reinforcements for the Northern Department. He responded by enlisting in Capt. Charles Miles’ company, in Col. Jonathan Reed’s regiment. This unit served at Ticonderoga during the time of the defeat of the American fleet on Lake Champlain under Gen. Benedict Arnold.

Upon his return home in early 1777, he rejoined the local militia in Capt. Bridge’s company. With Gen. Burgoyne preparing to advance on northern New York, the call once again went out for soldiers to meet this serious threat. He joined the Continental Army on 10 March for a three-year term in the company of Capt. Edmund Monroe, in Col. Timothy Bigelow’s 15^th Massachusetts regiment.^III Probably due to his new commitment to the military service, on 2 April 1777 he appointed Amos Fortune of Woburn, his ‘Trusty Friend,’ as his lawful attorney to tend to his financial matters.^IV Bigelow’s regiment served at Saratoga, Valley Forge, and Monmouth, where his Captain was killed. His new Captain was named Bowman and he served faithfully until his discharge on 10 March 1780, part of this tour being at Providence during early 1779. He once again enlisted for Rhode Island service in the company of Capt. William Green, in Col. Cyprian How’s regiment. His final discharge was on 1 November 1780.^V

On 27 October 1782, he was ‘Baptized & Admitted’ into the First Congregational Church of Lexington. A side note states ‘A Negro Man in Private He being sick.’^VI By 1785, he had removed to Jaffrey, New Hampshire to work in the tanning business of his old friend Amos Fortune. This work he did faithfully until his death in Jaffrey on 20 May 1790.^VII He is presumed to be buried in the Jaffrey Center Burying Yard near the Amos Fortune lot.^VIII

He filed intentions in Holliston (MA) to marry Susanna Bay of Holliston on 8 September 1781. The marriage was forbidden by someone named Duty Bay.^IX

Footnotes:

1. Birth date backwardly-computed, based on average age of marriage of 26 (per study of compiler).
2. Jaffrey Public Library, Jaffrey, NH. Vertical File, IOU dated 25 November 1785 in “Fortune, Amos” file.
3. This and previously listed service per Secretary of the Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (1896-1908) 2:110. Also 2-CD Family Tree Maker^TM set “Military Records: Revolutionary War.”
4. Jaffrey Public Library, Jaffrey, NH. Vertical File, deed in “Fortune, Amos” file.
5. Secretary of the Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (1896-1908) 2:110. Also 2-CD Family Tree Maker^TM set “Military Records: Revolutionary War.”
6. Lexington (MA) Historical Society, “A Copy of the Records of the Church of the First Congregational Society in Lexington;” see also Vital Records to 1850. Births, Marriages and Deaths. Vols for most Massachusetts towns, Lexington, Births, listed under “NEGROES,” 93.
7. Williams, Ralph C. “The Story of Amos Fortune” (1977); Vital Records to 1850. Births, Marriages and Deaths. Vols for most Massachusetts towns, Lexington, Deaths, 213 (under “NEGROES”), records the death of Pompey Blackman on 1 January 1783. This conflict has not been resolved.
8. Annett, Albert and Lehtinen, Alice E.E. History of Jaffrey (Middle Monadnock) New Hampshire (1937), 766.
9. Vital Records to 1850. Births, Marriages and Deaths. Vols for most Massachusetts towns, Holliston, Marriages, 175.

Learn more about Quintal's study.