good morning and welcome. the 10th annual american revolutionary war conference sponsored by the fort plain museum and historical park. we're located in the historic mohawk valley region about an hour west of albany, new york. thank you all for being here

today. definitely. with your support. we appreciate all these events. we appreciate you being here. so thank you. to get started today, we have a good lineup of speakers. everybody should have a schedule in their folder. that will be today's lineup. we got to stay on time. luckily, we have c-span who are going to be recording today. you'll so you'll see all the cameras. so if we just would ask you to please fill in, have your cell phones on silent and so we can have an interruption free event. thank you. i'd like to thank jason ratline and the fulton montgomery community college for allowing us to use this space each year. they graciously set us up here, provide us with all the technology and audio and video and it's just provides a great space to hold our event. our event started off pretty big back in 2015. we started off with a crowd of 150 people, and it grew right through 2019, it grew to over 200. and then unfortunately, we had

the kovic covid pandemic, which dropped their numbers. but we're actually we're back to our beginning numbers. we have over 150 people signed up this weekend. so thank you all. i'd like to thank bruce franklin and west home publishing. his books are the topic of the three books that will be appearing on c-span. so thank you to bruce franklin and all his great books. we have a book table out there, so you'll see many of his published works out there. thank you. all right. so to get started, first speaker, surely al green earned a ph.d. in history from bowling green state university in 2011 and a master's in history from the university of toledo. in 2005, shirley was honored with a graduate college distinguished dissertation award from bowling green state university in 2012 and in emerging leader excellence category from the african legacy project of northwest ohio in

2010. currently, shirley is an adjunct instructor with both the university of toledo and bowling green state university. prior to getting into the history field, shirley, employed by the toledo police department starting in 1976, while returning as a lieutenant in 2003. thank you for your service currently, shirley is also director of the toledo police museum. shirley's recent book, revolutionary blacks discovering the frank brothers freeborn men color soldiers of independence, was published by western publishing in 2000. three is also the subject of her talk today. let's get a big round. applause and welcome, shirley to the stage. all right. good morning, everyone.

thank you for coming out this morning. i am really happy to be the lead off speaker today. i want to thank brian mack and the fort plain museum and site in their group for inviting me here to speak at the conference this year. this is my second visit to york state this year in february. i was invited to speak at different venues by the westchester county to 50 revolutionary consortium group and i had a wonderful time there. so and i've been having a wonderful time here with you all. i'm here to talk about my book and my research, and a lot of that is based on my family history. my book is part family history is part micro history. micro history is when you focus on a person or an event or community or location on a small level to tell a bigger story about historical forces or

events. most family historians and micro historians start out on their research trying to answer questions or mysteries about a certain ancestor order or a certain aspect of history. i was born and raised in toledo, ohio, so as my father, my mother, however, was born and raised in lynn, massachusetts her father was born and raised in nova scotia, canada. when i first started my research as a family historian, i was trying to answer the question of how my maternal grandfather came to be born and raised in canada. as i started to address that question, another question arose oh, excuse me, how did the experiences of my ancestors inform us about the experiences and actions of free blacks in revolutionary america? this book is the culmination my journey to answer those questions. so i want to start with my maternal great grandfather, a guy by the name of thomas henry

franklin he was a landscad onof the oldest cemeteries in north america, which was located in cated in annapolis royal nova scotia. this picture that you see on t screen there was taken by a local historian by the name of william ingles morse. morse was tingesearch for a booon the oldest gravestones, north america. the bo eitled the gravestones of a kati. they had a conversation that moe and my greatrandfather. and the conversation went something like this, and it's on then there. at iyour name? morse ask my great grandfather, and he responded my me is henry franklin anuncommon name. and these parts. my grandfather came from africa. how old ar you, morse? i asked him. he said. i'm just turned 70, and i find it ver inic that he just turned 70 whis explaining. to historian morse about his own family history and i'm just

turning 70 and i'm explaining about my family's history. thank you. thank you. so, henry franklin was passed, pass away shortly after the publication of the book in 1929. but he just recited a small part of the franklin oral history to historian morse, the entire franklin oral tradition goes something like this. the first franklin ancestor came to america from the west coast of africa by of haiti and two of his descendants, two brothers with the last name of frank fought in the black regiment in rhode island in the little army during the revolutionary war. i believe that the first frank set frank ancestor in america was captured in five different documents as living and working in colonial rhode island by late 1690s, this man was free and an active member of the providence,

rhode island community, and he was known by the name of frank. he owned a parcel of land and he worked as a servant of silas carpenter. s carpenter was a member of the carpenter family, which was a large landholding family in ence, rhoded. there are picturesur o those documents on the screen. three of the dts are related to a land purchase made by frank from silas, his nephew, a guy by the namehrai ente so as you can see, a doc for 32 indicates td. the initial land purchase. there is a red arrow pointing to the me of frank -- servant of silasnter, the second document, 47,icat that frank -- mortgaged the land off immediately purasing the land. a month later, and he is again referred to as frank -- servant in doc 65,e pays off

that mortgage, regains control of lnd his listed in that document as frank --. when i teach early americanass history or or the american revolutionary war period. and i ask my students, when did frank -- gain independence? when did he gained his freedom? and nine times out of ten they could figure out somewhere between 47 and 65, because he is no longer listed as frank -- servant of silas carpenter, the other document on the screen is and a court document is a court and it details an attack upon frank by an individual with the last name of sprague. the affidavit and it is now magnified there on then the affidavit summarized as the attack, which appears to b provoked, not by the actions taken by frank. the complaint reads this way that sprague declared against himself that had misbehaved

himself for that howaid sprague did on the 19th of this instance may be reason by reason of procation, given him by -- frank, and in passion to strike the said -- frank some blows which drawn some blood from the said frank, which is a breach of his majesty's law. sprague was charged, convicted and fined for the assault in the amount of two shillings and $0.04, and that indicates to me all of these documents indicate to me that frank understood how to navigate the system as a black man in colonial rhode island. i believe that this induced rikus frank was the direct ancestor of two brothers named andrew and rufus. i also believe that andrew rufus probably followed a west african custom of adapting a revered ancestor's first name as their last name. both andrew and rufus frank lived and worked in providence, rhode island, in the 1700s. both served in the militia.

both were called out to fight off threats to their community. andrew died in 1756, but his brother rufus lived on to head his own household in rhode island in the 1770s, rufus became a memr the providence militia, as was stated yesterday, militia service was qued of all able bodied meneten the ages of 16 to 60. wever, this was not generally required for black men who were normally exempted mita service and were instead required to perform other civic duties like road cleaning an repair. but during times of major warfare, the exemptions against black service were disregarded, such as when great britain became involved in a war against france and francis native american allies in the french and indian war. rufus served as a member of the militia providence during the war from 1757 to 1761. excuse me, 1762. he was stationed primarily in a

region that is present day western new york state. he served in three separate campaigns, which you're looking on the screen is a picture of rt stanwick, which is located in rome, new york. and rufus was stationed there for a peodf time in 1762 when spain jumped into the conflict on e side of france, rhodisndustered its troops to assist with the capture of which was an important spanish colony at the time. rufus and others made their way to new york, and they sailed to havana. they laid siege and captured a fortress in havana's harbor. the siege ended and rufus and his fellow troops returned home. home for rufus was now johnston rhode island. after the war is where he settled johnson rhode island is a small town just northeast of providence. rufus married. he had three children. he had two sons by the name of william and ben. he had one daughter by the name of hannah.

the frank household was one of ten free black households in johnston. the family is enumerated in the 1774 colonial rhode island census census on the far right side, which is the area of the census that was degnated for blacks and native americans. rufus and his families were and his family were part of a growing black population before the revolutionary war, there were approximately 500,000 people of african descent which made up 20% of the population on the eve of the american revolution. most were enslaved. a very small percentage of blacks free, and they lived under very restrictive conditions like the franks. as the war progressed, the desires of these half a million people could be separated into two categories as defined by historian ira berlin. the enslaved were looking for liberty and freedom. free blacks were looking for equality.

the enslaved were looking for liberty and freedom. free blacks were looking for equality throughout the duration of the war. they would judge who would and would excuse me who would and could grant their desires. the british or the americans. now, william and ben would follow in their father's footsteps and serve in the military during the revolutionary war. but before they could serve, there needed to be a change in american military policy. one of the reasons for the change was prompted by the actions of john murray, the earl of dunmore, and he was also the appointed royal governor of virginia by 1775, he had been run out of his quarters at williamsburg by patriot forces, and he was conducting his official business on a ship in the chesapeake bay on november seven, 1775, he issued a proclamation that promised freedom to enslaved n o were willing fight for the british crown. dunmore was just looking for a

way to gain regained and help great britain win the war. and he thought that by dra the resources from the pat cause, like the enslaver excuse me and slave labor force, that that would be a good way to do that. one of the many enslaved men and women who fled to dunmore and the british lines was henry, also known as henry washington, who was enslaved to george washington. henry became a member of lord the moors ethiopian regiment. dunmore trained over 800 formerly enslaved men, and the basics musket, shooting and formation, marching. he had special uniforms made for them with the insignia, quote, liberty to the slaves, unquote. the regiment fought in two major battles the last battle being the battle at great bridge, virginia, where they lost. they lost lives at both battles. they also lost lives to smallpox epidemic during this period of time, however, dunmore.

proclamation created one of the first mass emancipation of enslaved blacks prior to the civil war, historians have estimated that around 80,000 enslaved people fled the british lines during the war women and children among them, and they were all seeking their freedom. so the frank brothers, william and ben, were able to enlist after a change in american military policy at the beginning of the war, george washington banned the use of black soldiers in the continental army. the militia troops that fought at the initial battles at lexington and concord and bunker hill were diverse. they had white, black and native american soldiers serving together. but washington believed that you cannot have a professional army with black soldiers, and he could not attract southern planters by arming blacks free or enslave. so in july of 1775, after he took control of the continental forces, he instructed his recruiting officers in the

following manner and some of the quotas on the screen there quote, you a n enlist to enlist any deserter from the ministerial army, excuse me, nor an stroller or -- or vagabond or person suspected of being an enemy to the liberty of america. policy throughout theall ofhis 1775, but to counter dumbledore's proclamation, george washington revised this policy toward black soldiers. washington was also pressured by command officers and black community leaders like prince hall, who would go on to be the leader of the free the black freemason movement in america. anyway, washington was pressured by these command officers and individuals like prince hall to allow the service of black veterans soldiers who had already proved themselves in battle. so washington changed his policy in january 1776, he allowed for

the continued service and the enlistment of free black veterans, the following year, he allowed for the enlistment of all free blacks by war's end. and this is an ongoing debate among historians about how many black soldiers served in the continental army. they accepted traditional narrative is that 5000 served, but the d.r., in its expansive work titled forgotten patriots, native american indigenous soldiers that served during the war, have calculated that maybe 6000 black soldiers served in the kind of army, and there are others that pushed the number up to 7000. so they still working on what the true number is. all right. but because of the change in american military policy, the french brothers were now able to enlist because they were both free. they were freeborn. william, the older brother, signed up to serve with the rhode island state brigade at tiverton, rhode island, in april of 1777. later that year was enlisted

into the second rhode island regiment. his younger brother, benjamin, signed up to serve with the second rhode island regiment at providence in may of the same year. he was 15 years old. his father probably had to give his permission for his young son to enlist. why did they enlist for variety of reasons, mostly for economic concerns. they were members of the working class. they were listed as general laborers. their father did not own land with enlistment. they could look forward to, they thought to earning a steady wage and receiving food and equipment. given the limited opportunities for free blacks and other members of the working class military service was one of the few ways to better your life. congress had approved enlistment bonuses. congress and the state had in different states had promised land bounties at the end of the war were soldiers of color treated differently than their white counterparts? they initially served an

integrated regiment in companies and received the same pay and equipment. so as freeborn men, freeborn black men, the frank brothers were receiving the sort after equality that many free blacks were looking for. but what were the frank brothers actually getting themselves into? they became members of the second rhode island regiment, which was commanded by colonel israel angel, who at one point lived in the hometown of the frank brothers johnson, rhode island. the state of rhode island was tasked by congress to provide two infantry regiments, the first in the second rhode island. and the regiments were integrated. the franks were not signing up for easy duty. continental soldiers lived tough pay was very sporadic. sporadic due to a limited treasury of the new federal government and the state governments as well. they were issued equipment. they were issued muskets and bayonets, issued clothing that consistent mostly of hunting shirts similar to spats.

smocks, scuse me, that were large enough to cover their other clothing and equipment. shoes were always in supply in the summer, soldiers could go barefoot. and in the winter we heard these stories about the army soldiers. in the winter, sometimes they had to wrap their feet in cloth. soldiers often resorted to foraging in the countryside for food. soldiers also had to deal with diseases that ran rampant through their camps. on the screen is how. colonel. excuse me, colonel angel, describe the situation of the men who served in the second rhode island regiment. he wrote back to his bosses in the general assembly. he said the regiment is scandalous in its appearance, the view of everyone and has because of this incurred from surrounding regiments, from the hatants of towns through ich they have lately passed the disagreeable bill and ovokingpiets of the wrath of them in their uniforms were vered with lice, naked

regiment. such treatment, gentlemen, is discouraging disparity iit tendencies. it does effectually unmanned the man unmanned the man and render them almost useless in the army. this was the reality of life in the continental army. for the break, frank brothers in the second rhode island regiment, the first battle that the brothers were engaged in occurred at red bank. the two rhode island regiments were dispatched to defend the forts along lawa river tween pennsylvania and new jersey in octobe7 trps of maryland and connecticut were statio for mifflin, a mud island. that is where the yellow arrow and the rhode isloopsere stationed at fort mcer at red bank. that is where the red arrows pointing at detachment of soldiers fromeconrhode island was also set over to reinforce troops at fort mifflin. initially the rhode island troops were able to defend fort mercer and repel british and

hessian troops. however, the british able to eventually capture fort mifflin, forcing the rhode island regiments to evacuate both forts as a result of the battle. 14 were killed, 21 were wounded. but they did receive praise and accommodations for the exploits, and the commander, the first rhode island regiment, colonel christopher green, received a commendation sword from the rhode island assembly for his his work at fort mercer. what was their ultimate reward for their service at red bank? winter at valley fort, i just marched right over there. ye, yeah. after the battle, the frank brothers and their regiments marched to valley forge, pennsylvania, for the winter encampment of 1777 to 1778, while in camp there. oh, excuse me. american troops suffered major losses due to disease. illness and desertion.

washington would describe the encampment as, quote, composed of men half starved, always in rags without pay and experiencing every species of distress, unquote. the food rations were in such short supply that many of the army regulars threatened to revolt. their slogan was no bread, no meat, no soldier. at the end of 1777, washington notified congress that over 2800 soldiers were unfit for duty because they were otherwise barefoot and naked. william frank one of these soldiers. a week later, an additional 1000 men were on sick roll. over 3000 soldiers deserted. the rhode island regiments were decimate it as well due to their losses, there were barely enough soldiers left to form one regiment. colonel angell wrote, quote, i am sorry to inform you that a very great sickness and mortality prevailed among the rhode island troops, which is

just to proceed in some measure from the badness of their class, unquote, and the rate of desertion also concerned angell, he wrote, quote, desertion is what we may ever expect, so long as the soldiers see that the public faith is not to be depended upon, unquote. general james farnham, who had overall command of the rhode island regiment, was also concerned about the state of. the rhode island troops. he wrote, quote, the two rhode island battalions have been sickly. they have lost a considerable number. this is owing to their immense fatigues in the summer pass, unquote. and he means fatigues means the extra duties that they perform in the summer passed. in 2019, i had the privilege of visiting valle forge natiol historical park. that is me standing at the encampment site for the rhode island regiments, and that was kind of moving for me. to solve the problem of dwindling manpower.

excuse me. general varnum made the recommendation to fill their dwindling ranks by recruiting and in enlisting enslaved men from rhode island, they were able to convince general washinonnd the rhode island general assembly to allow the enlistment of slave men in returnor their freed. the slave enlistment act was passed on february 14, 1778,n a stipulated that any quote -- or mulatto or di man,lave, unquote, could now enlist with the rhode island regiments part of the act as on the screen there, the act went on to say quote that every slave. so enlisting shall be entitled to receive all the bonuses excuse me, bounties, wesnd encouragements allowed by the council congress to any soldier enlisting to their service. it is further voted and resolved

that every slave so enlisting all upon his passing muster before colonel christopher greene, be immediately discrg from the service of his master or mistress, and be absolutely lutely free so colonel christopher greene of the first rhode island regiment accompanied by his captains, was given the task of leaving valley forge encampment and returning to rhode island to recruit and enlist individuals to serve in the new regiment. however, the recruitment and enlistment of slave men did not last long in rhode island, rhode island slaveholders oppose the new law they fear the consequences of arming ex-slaves and how that would appear to those still in bondage. their opposition prevailed and in june, the rhode island assembly repealed the slave enlistment act. but in that four month period, over 100 free and formerly enslaved african-americans and native americans enlisted.

among them were individual like africa. burke, a providence primus brown of, the french brothers, hometown johnson, rhode island and free blacks and native americans also enlisted during this period, and then included individual by the name of peter dailey of warwick, rhode island. this may also have been the first case of sanctioned segregation in american military history. what military historian robert white. right. junior has called, quote, an experiment in segregation, unquote, because these new recruits were combined with over 70 documented veteran and black native american soldiers from the first and second rhode island regiments. the form the first rhode island regiment, the frank brothers and other soldiers of color were transferred from the second rhode island to the reconfigure first rhode island regiment. the reconfigured first rhode island regiment became known as the black regimt.

on the screen areops of two documents that address that change. the rsdocument on the left side of the screen is part of a pensn cord from private william champlin. in it, he testifies that the whe n andolel green's regiments were transferred to colonel israel angels regiment and that is underlined on the screen there. the second document is in return, meaning a lisngeturn of freemen enlisted for the war. i believe this return listed some of the freeborn or previously freed men of color who served with the fir rde island regiment and you can see right there, i have to magnify the names t frank broths, but they are listed right there on that second document and that document lists over 35 individuals that were considered free prior to the slave enlistment act. to william and ben's first

battle in their new regiment occur on their home soil in island. their regiments were to participate in the rhode island expedition. the in objectivef the expedition was to drive british from aquidneck island in the imrtant port city of newrt, which is down there at the bottom of aquidneck island, southern most int it was led by general john sullivan of new hampshire. it was the first joint effort between american and french troops. so the rhode island troops had to be excited about the opportunity to kick the british completely out of rhode island, not that. but they were going to fight side by side with their new allies the french who had come to the aid of the americans after american victory at saratoga in new york in october 1777, the expedition failed when american troops were unable to overcome the british defenses at newport. on the screen is a graphic from

thbook titled the black regiment of the american revolution. and what it does is it step by steps. what happens during? the battle over rhode island th would happen during the rhode island expetion. french naval ships were prevented from participating in the battle due to b winds and damage upon the fleet. they had to flee to boston for repairs and did not return to give support. also british reinforcements were sent to repel the american attack after trying to lay siege for almost a month, the americans were forced flee the island on august 29tand it was during their retreat that the battle of rhode island occurred. so initially they come across from fort barton march all the way down to lay siege here, and then when they know that british reinforcements coming and the french fleet is gone, they have to march back up aquidneck island. and right at this point is where the battle orhode island occurred. the british forces chased after

the retreating troops, caught them at turkey. and but which is at points seven and eight there on the screen. william and ben, along with other members of the first and second rhode island regiments, were assigned to protect the right wing of the american at duffy's hill during the afternoon hours in the heat, the day they repelled a combined force of british and hessian troops on three separate occasions and they were also being bombarded with volleys from the british ships in the harbor since the french fleet had failed to return by the end of the day, american forces were, however, able to safely retreat from the island. the there were total casualties. 30 killed, 137 wounded, 44 came up missing casualties in the first rhode island regiment, where or 10% of the total americans killed, nine or 6% were wounded and 11 or 25% were missing. the franck brothers were among the survivors after the battle

the first rhode island regiment was then assigned shore patrol duty in rhode island. and this when the younger brother did something that younger brothers do they don't think things out and was during this period in january 1779 that ben frank got married he married a young woman by the name of sarah wilbur. he was 18 years old. sarah was a mother of one child. charles name was abraham bennacer or mary barrie elder john gorton of the six principal baptist church of east greenwich, rhode island. elder gordon had married ben's younger sister, hannah, to an individual by the name of solomon wanting solomon. one was also a member of the first rhode island regiment, but a year after his marriage, ben frank made a pivotal decision. so let's review his life up to this point.

he's years old. he's married, with a family to support. he's serving with the army that could not to clothe or feed them at this point in time. he and his fellow soldiers are called the next lousy rag regiment. he survived a miserable winter. valley forge. he fought in two major battles and on both his regiment had to retreat. he lost comrades at both battles. at this point, he have been convinced that the americans could not the war. so what did he do? he deserted in march of 1780. ben, frank deserted from the carmel army. it was not uncommon for revolution or war soldiers to leave their companies and regiments for home one fifth to one third deserted during the war. poor pay, poor equipment, lack of food and even home sickness drove. many soldiers to desert. for ben, there was the

additional burden of marriage and to support a family with insufficient and unsteady milita pay. the miliecords on screen indicate that ben signed up for ho older brother hadwar. signed up for three yeo that has always ind of confusing to me. however, at this point, ben may have believed that he signed up for three year enlistment that his enlisting was almost completed. but for whatever reasons ben frank left, leaving his brother and wife behind his wife sarah will return to her hometown of middlebury, massachusetts, taking her son abraham with her. william frank continued his service with the first rhode island regiment. the older brother stayed. the younger brother left. but i don't know how the segregation of the rhode island troops affected him and others. i have tracked over 50 soldiers of color, freeborn free before their enlistment.

before the slave enlistment act and segregation. only three deserted after the act, 17 deserted, including ben, frank and his brother in law, solomon one solomon. however, was retaken and would later die of disease in camp ben never retaken. his older brother william would to serve. why he may have felt responsible to uphold the family name after his younger brother. he may have felt a sense of loyalty to his fellow soldiers in the rhode island regiments. maybe he didn't want to jeopardize his chances of getting land or money for service, and maybe he that the americans would win and he would reap the benefits of being a veteran member of the army that berated america for whatever his reasons. he re-enlisted ofeuary the first, 1781, for the duration of the war at this time. and he would continue to serve th the first rhode island

regiment. on the screen is a lti of rhode island th w compiled in 1781, and there is this work. there is willi frank there is age. his occupation, his place of where he was born, i should say, his place of residence there. johnston is skin color and his hair. and where signed up for service. so william would continue his service in early february. 1781 the first and second rhode island regiments were consolidated into a single rhode island regiment. after the second round, island had taken heavy casualties in the battle of springfield. this consolidated unit was now being commanded by colonel christopher green. that spring, colonel green and his soldiers found themselves encamped in westchester county,

new york, near kingsbridge, with the primary responsibility for guarding the continental lines. one of those soldiers, a sign to colonel green's regiment, was lieutenant jeremiah agreement. he was assigned to command the guard at pines bridge, one of the two bridges spanning the croton river and the northern barrier of they called neutral ground a. westchester county, new york. but this neutral ground ground was an area of almost confrontation between loyalist and patriots it was also the area of warfare carried out by a loyalist group that was led by colonel de lancey. this group was known as the lances corps of refugees. this group composed of american born soldiers who resided in westchester county but had chosen to remain lal to the british cause at sunrise on monday, may 14, 1781,ncey led his loyalist militia towards

prine's bridge. one attacked colonel green's headquarters, which was loca the davenport house. 'll see that on the next screen. a secoty struck agreements guard at bridge and lieutenant grimm wrote about this memoir. he quote this morning was med by the appearance of a party of calvary supported by infantry, which proved to b lances corps of refugees. they soon surrounded me and being superior in force having no prospect of escape, i thought it most advisa surrender myself and guard prisoners of war. they infthat colonel green was mortally wounded, a major flag killed one of those individuals that was captured along lieutenant greenman was peter daly, that individual from warwick, rhode island, who signed up during he as a free signed up during the slave enlistment period.

i am standing in front of what the davenport house looks like today and that erthe most brutal fire fighting occurred that is where colonel grn was awakened from sleep. and he and small detachmt soldiers were ambushed. major ebenezer flagg was shot in thhe while reaching for his pistols in his bed. colonel green was wounded in the initial attack and his wounded and dying body was strapped to a horse and dragged about a mile towards british lines. eventually, the lances troop left the colonel's at the side of the road and he was later buried along with major flagg at a site near their headquarters at bridge. they are both buried at the first presbyterian church cemetery in yorktown, new york. i and other historians believe that the brutal violence

perpetrated upon colonel green's body was unusually violent and probably because green was the leader of black soldiers along colonel green who were killed that day. individuals prince, child were also killed. africa bk,ho signed up during the slave enlistment time period. cato bannisterndimon whipple were also and their names are inscribed on the monument that you see on the screen there that monument is located in yorktown heights, new york, and it depicts colonel green like he's just sprunut of bed with a sword in hand. a member of the first rho island regiment, the black regiment standing there. and on the other side is a portrait native soldier fighting off the lances of refugees. william frank william frank survived. the attack at pines bridge as a

member of the consolidated first and second rhode island regiment. he he served at pivotal battle of yorktown in october of 1781, at war's end in 1783, william served a total of six years. in 1784. william frank what he eventually received back pay and the amount over $200. he would also a land bounty in 1795, which he promptly sold to a land speculator. william settled in his hometown, johnston. after the war and became a part of a growing population free blacks of over 3400 that were now living in the state of rhode land. another 1000 blackremain slaved. william is listed as a free head of hsehold of two in that federal. the first federal census and the red is pointing to william's namehat census. his brother ben's life was little bit more complicated, just a little after ben left the

cannon army, he signed up to serve with british troops. he alone in fleeing to the british. as i said earlier, thousands enslaved people fled to british lines during the war. at the end of the war, many of the defeated british troops and loyalists, black loyalists among them, made their way to new york city, which is one of the last british strongholds in america. at the end of the war, they at new york until the final peace treaty was negotiated and a passage would be arranged for them to go to england or british colonies in the caribbean and. as part of the peace treaty promised the return all confiscated property by the british to its rightful america and owners. this included the formerly enslaved those thousands of enslaved people that ran the british lines. however, british officials refused to return many of the

fugitive slaves that ran to the british seeking their freedom during the war. but the british were willing to make fair compensation to the owners of the slave persons, not return. i don't think they ever did in return to do so. in order to do so, i should say they compiled an inventory of the blacks within british lines. this inventory became known as the book the --. ben frank, a free man his whole life and former continental soldier is listed i believe as ben franklin in the book along with 3000 other black loyalists. and there is a red arrow pointing to his name in the book and i have magnified his name. he's listed as ben franklin, 21 ordinary fellow, not ordinary. in october 83. ben franklin was a passenger on a ship taking. him and other loyalists from new york to nova scotia. they were part a large fleet of over 40,000 loyalists heading to

nova scotia and other british colonies in north america. ben and others embarked on the brig. the brig. elijah deposited ben franklin and the rest of its passengers at fort mouton in late 83and that is indicated on the lower map with a red arrow by seven. by april of 1784ben had relocated it to the settlement bdstown, nova scot, ich was several miles northwest of the largesci of schober. beautiful city, shelburne, nova scotia, at point in time, bardstown ca the largest free black settlement in north america, with a population of over 1500 eelacks and. bardstown is just to the left of port mouton. the's shelburne and there's bardstown, many them lived in makeifhuts as you can see on the screen. that's what they look lik that is one of the reconstrucd

makeshift huts that they lived in some black loyalists found the northern climate and frontier conditions in nova scotia difficult and were subject to discrimination by other loyalist, many of them slave holders. also, the land that was given to black loyalists was the most rocky and hard to cultivate compared to that, it was given to some of the white loyalists. in 1792, prompted by the request black loyalists, the british government, black loyalists, the chance to resettle in a new colony in sierra leone. more than half, two thirds of the black loyalists then living in nova scotia, around 1200 of them the part of the country, and moved permanently to sierra, including henry washington, formerly enslaved to george washington tn now calling himself ben franklin, eventually married margaret, theauter of another black loyalist, and he settled in granville ferry,

nova scotia, which is indicated by the yellow on the screen ere in the annapolis region. i don't know if ben is a bigamist at this point in time, but he did get remarried ben and wife had nine children who survived adulthood. all of them were baptized in the anglican church, church of england. he passed away sometime. after 1838. my, my, excuse me. my maternal great is a direct descendant of be fnklin. he passed along his family history to the next generatio on the screen you see pictures of in the middle of peter franklin. tha's my great and that is the olr brother of my grandfather who we call pa and his name was jo franklin. and he's my maternal grandfather anhe is sitting in in the backyard of his home in lynn,

massachusetts petting his favorite dog, penny. as you can see, he followed the ylof his father. by the way, he has hisat cocked at the same angle onis head, which always amazed me and my great uncle peter has aat in his hand. there that he took off for the picture in the early 1900s. my grandfather left nova scotia for new york city looking for work. okay, so this is what really happened. my grandfather was working on a whaling ship, one of the first jobs that young people in nova. if you were a young man got, was working on whalers. all right. he got hurt. one of the whaling expeditions and, the whaling ship dropped him off in new york city and he decided to stay there. all right. he stayed and got work, but the frank slash franklin tradition, both peter and john in world war one, peter served a battalion from canada. john william, my grandfather,

served as part of a new york regiment. he married late in life. he eventually settled in iceland. he passed away in lynn in 1966. he never gave up his canadian citizenship. he also he always had a canadian flag hanging in his home on a wall in the dining room and. i always ask them why, do we have a canadian flag in in the house part? and he would say, that is where i am from. he passed along the story of the frank brothers to his two sons. i call him the frank brothers. part two. check out the names my uncles, john, william franklin jr and ben franklin. and they would also continue the service, the frank of military service. both of them served in world war. my uncle. we call them buster john, william franklin junior, served

in the philippines, served in the pacific, i should say. and my uncle ben served in europe. and my uncle ben was the individual who passed the story along to me. but both of them served in world war two and they also served in the korean conflict as well. so i want to end by a section from the epilog of the book. okay, learning about franklin family background in origins has been a fascinating personal journey there struggled to gain standing in their communities and to fight on equal footing with their white counterparts in the canada army has helped me to put my own life and career choices in perspective. like the frank brothers, i followed in my own father's footsteps. when i became police officer in toledo, ohio, in 1976, one of the first female officers on the

department my father a wells respected police investigator and civil war history buff, instilled a a history in me. and like rufus to his own sons. my father an inspiring figure in my life, but did the heritage from my maternal line and still an unconventional streak in me that allowed me to envision myself someone equal in a male dominated. it is possible that this nonconforming trait came from the frank slash franklin line. throughout my research, i have often asked myself which of the brothers i identify with the most. and even though ben's life and decision to provide a better framework to understand my own public predilection to take the road less traveled as the oldest sibling of my family, i tend to identify with william, the older brother who was persistent and steadfast in his service. but i am not judgmental or unsympathetic to ben's and decisions to the contrary, the common combination of these two dichotomous personalities has

found a home in this author and motiva motivated me to not only continue their history of public service, but also to write their story. and i'll, in their questions. okay. we do have time for questions. do. fabulous talk. thank you. thank you. william frank? yes. did he ever apply for a pension? that is very. yes yes. but his application and record is not in the pension files. i have not been able to find them. i do know that he did apply for his land bonus and he did receive it. and as i said earlier, he promptly sold it to. a land speculator. there's another part of the franklin oral tradition that i didn't mention earlier is that

there is an understanding that william frank after the 1790 census, would eventually to the state of louisiana. and if you look in louisiana census there are a bunch of francs. i don't know how they are related to us, but they are a bunch of francs are listed in louisiana census and the two starting in the 1800s. thank you for the question, dr. greene. thank you for very enlightening present nation. thank you. i'd like to know, i mean, you said your uncle related a lot of the story to you. yes. but your grandfather while he was alive, did he speak much about it? and did he kind of spark an interest in you and learning more about what king came before him? i think what did was he sparked an interest in the fact that he was not from america, that he was from a place called nova scotia. and none of my friends knew where that was. and i used to like to about that. i come from those. i have people from nova scotia, and they were like, where's that at? so that was what intrigue me the

most. i got the information, though, about their military service in the military tradition from my uncle ben. my uncle ben was one that afforded me and gave me all of that information. he he was amazing about giving me, the information and he was always right. he was always right. sometimes i would question what he was saying. for instance, said that the first frank came to the americas by way, haiti. i'm like, how do you know that? how do you. that's in the oral tradition? yes. so i said, okay, give me a dna sample. and he was a match for young man that lived in the dominican republic. oh, yeah. yeah. so he was always right. always. yes, sir. yes, ma'am. i'm sorry. wonderful talk. insightful. and how wonderful to be born into this fine family. yeah. thank you. thank you for that. all right.

anyone else. do you have family reunions now that you have all this information? not very many. i've been to a. nova scotia on several occasions. primarily for research. most of the family that originally lived nova scotia has as my made it to different parts of canada. some of them live in toronto, some live as far is alberta, canada. so it's very difficult to get everyone together and then the older generation is now passed. so it is to get all of our generation together because everyone is so flung and living throughout the country. anyone else.

thanks for the talk. when? after they were ejected from virginia general howard, a very similar ban. the enlistment of -- into, the british army as well. do you know what happened to the ethiopian regiment? most of them. and i haven't done extensive research on the ethiopian regiment, but quite a few of them died of smallpox. and then they were disbanded after that. but you were absolutely right. the british weren't of. they didn't treat their black soldiers. and if you want to call them black soldiers, most of them served in support units like the black pioneers. so they allowed to serve in auxiliary kind of positions, but really not as soldiers. so you're absolutely right. and the ethiopian regiment just kind of dissolved away mostly, primarily due to the death by disease. thank you for the question.

thank you. thank you. i have one question or comment in pine bridge interaction. mm hmm. the lieutenant greenman? yes. was he part of that defensive group or that which killed? i mean, the. the green and and flag or was he part of a different group. i'm sorry if i didn't make that clear. lieutenant greenman was part of a detachment that was actually guarding the bridge. and so they had to separate points of attack. one was at the headquarters at the davenport house, where colonel green and major flag were. and the other was at that detachment with lieutenant green men and others and peter dailey, and they were captured and they were in. do you get that information? green man's diary? yes yes. okay. thank you. which is a fascinating read, by the way, about. 30 miles to the west of here.

there was an action in 1777 where elements i think the second rhode island were involved with the capture of some stories. okay. do you know anything about that? not right off the top of my head, no. all right. thank you. i remember reading cotton mather, famous preacher up in massachusetts during the salem witch trials. relates that one of the first systems for trying to prevent smallpox was given to him by some of his slaves who had brought it over from africa, which they finally adopted here before they had the real cure, which was to take a small infection and. did any of you mentioned smallpox twice. and i'm curious if if there was any connection with some of the some of the survivors or some of

the children of those slaves, also used that system or introduced that system? well, that was a procedure that was used on the west coast of africa. and you're right, it was it was brought over by, i think, the slaves, the persons name was so seamless who was enslaved to cotton mather during that period of time. and cotton mather passed along that procedure. one of the doctors in his town and in washington at several points in the war had his troops inoculated against smallpox. yes. so he did try to prevent the second spread of it. second question, quick. i think i know the answer. but tell me, did the black troops ever have black officers or were they all led by caucasians? they were all led by white officers, just like world war one. so, yes. and world war two, i don't know, a world or two, but certainly in world war two, i must say that in my position as the historian for the toledo police department and the of the toledo police

museum going back to world war two, we had an individual by the name of jacob chandler who enlisted for service, he was a toledo police officer, and he enlisted for service during world war two. he was a college graduate, and during his military career, he would be, among other black with college educations, some them would be elevated to command positions. so jacob chandler started his career in the american military as a private. eventually he would become a lieutenant, and he lost his life serving in italy, right outside of florence, italy? yes. mm hmm. absolutely. you.