meaning was one of the founders of the library of congress and knew that democracy must eventually be based on the foundation of an enlightened people and placing facts within reach of the citizen becomes the business of a government. and that is why the first tuesday in every month is so important to our young friend and the farmers in the hills of virginia. if you're enjoying american history tv then sign up for our newsletter using the qr code on the screen to receive weekly highlights of upcoming programs like lectures in history,

american artifacts, the presidency and more. sign up for the ah tv newsletter today and watch american history tv every weekend or any time online at c-span.org/history. this election night c-span delivers something different not just the presidential race but the state races that will decide the balance of power in congress. no political pundits, no spin, you no commercials. just the candidates and you. live tonight on tv, online, or on the free c-span now video app. good morning and welcome to the tenth 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 and 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 have to stay on time. luckily we have c-span who are going to be recording today. you'll see all the cameras. we ask you to please file in and have your cell phones on silent and so we can have an interruption-free event. thank you. i would like to thank jason ratlin and the fulton montgomery community college for allowing us to use these space. they set us up here, provide us with the technology and audio and video and it's just provides a great space to hold other 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 covid pandemic which then dropped our numbers, but we're actually back up to our beginning numbers. we have over 150 people signed up this weekend. so thank you all. i would like to thank bruce franklin and west home publishing. his book the topics of the three books appearing on c-span. thank you to bruce franklin and his books. we have a book table out there. you will see many of his published works out there. thank you. all right. so to get started our first speaker, shirley l. 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 group state university in 2012. and an emerging leader

excellence category from the african american legacy project of northwest ohio in 2010. currently shirley is an adjunct instructor with the university of toledo and bowling green state university. prior to getting into the history field, shirley was employed by the toledo police department starting in 1976 while retiring as a lieutenant in 2003. thank you for your service. currently shirley is director of the toledo bliss museum. shirley's recent book "revolutionary black, discovering the frank brothers free born men of color soldiers of independence" was published in 2003 and is the subject of her talk today. let's give a big round of 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 historic site and their group for inviting me here to speak at the conference this year. this is my second visit to new york state this year. in february i was invited to speak at different venues by the westchester county 250 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. a lot of that is based on my family history. my book is part family history, part micro history. micro history is when you focus on a person or an event or

community or a 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 or aspect of history. i was born and raised in toledo, ohio. so was 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 across. how did the experiences of my ancestors inform us about the experiences and actions of free blacks in revolutionary america. this book is the culminatioof my journey to answer those

questions. i want to start with my maternal great grandfather, a guy by the me of thomas henry frankly. he was a landscaperand one of the oldest cemeteries in north america located or is located in annapos royal nova scotia. this picture yosee on the screen there was taken by a local historian by the name of william ingles morse. morswas conducted research for a book on the oldest gravestones in north america. the book is entitled "the gravestones of academy." they had a conversation that day, morse and my an grandfathe. we something like this. what is your name. morse askemy grandfather. he responded my name is henry franklin, uncommon name in the parts. my grandfather came from africa. how old are you, morse asked him? he said i'm just turned 70. i find it very ironic that he just turned 70 when he is

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. henry franklin passed 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 tradition goes something like this. the first franklin ancestor came to america from the west coast of africa by way of haiti. two of his descendents two brothers with the last name of frank fought in the black regiment in rhode island in the continental army during the revolutionary war. i believe that the first 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 carpter. silas carpenter was a member of the carpenter family, a large land holding family in providencerhode island. there are pictures of four of the documents on the screen. three are related to a land purchase madeby frank from silas' nephew by the name of efran carpente as you can see, document 432, indicates the nd, the initial land purchase. there is a red arrow pointing to thename of frank, servant of silas carpenter. the cond document 47 indicates that frank mortgaged the land off mediately after purchasing the land a month later.

and he is again referred to as frank nigro servant. he pays off the mortgage, regains control of the land and listed in that document as frank nigro. i use these documents in class when i teach early american history or american revolutionary war period and ask my students when did frank nigro gain his independence, his freedom. nine times out of ten they can figure out between '47 and '65 because he's no longer listed as frank of silas carpenter. the other document on the screen isa court document. it's a court afdavit. and it details an attack upon frank by an individual with the last name of spray. the affidavit is magnified on the screen the affidavit summarizes the attack which appears to be provoked by the actions taken by frank. the complaint reads this way,

that sprague declared had misbehaved himself for that how the said sprague did on the 19th of this instance may be reason by reason of great provocation given him by nigro frank and in his passion did strike said nigro frank some blows which draw some blood from said frank a breach of his majesty's law. sprague, charged, convicted and fined in the amount of two shillings and four pens. that indicates to me that frank understood haw to navigate the system as a black man in colonial rhode island. i believe this industrious frank was a direct ancestor of two brothers named andrew and rufus. i also believe that andrew and rufus probably followed a west african custom of adopting a revered ancestor's first name

and last name. they both lived and worked in providence, rhode island in the 1700s, both served in the militia were called out to fight off the rest of their community. andrew died in 1756 but rufus lived on to head his own household. rufus became a member of the prove dins militia. as was stated yesterday militia service required of all able body men between 16 to 60. this was not generally required for black men who were normally exempted from military service and were instead required to perform other civic duties like road cleaning and repair. during times of major warfare the exemptions against black service were disregarded, such when great britain became involved in a war against france and france's 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 region that is present day western new york state. he served in three separate campaigns which what you're looking at on the screen is the picture of fort sandwitch in rome, new york and rufus stationed there for a period of time. in 1762 when spain jumped. >> the conflict on the side of france rhode island muss sterred its troops to assist with the capture of cuba, an important spanish colony at the time. rufus and others made their way to new york and sailed to havana lay siege and captured a fortress in havana's harbor. the siege ended and rufus and his fellow troops returned home. home for rufus was johnston, rhode island. after war that is where he settled. johnston, rhode island, is a small town 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 fool is enumerated in the 1774 colonial rhode island census on the far right side, which is the area of the census that was designated for black and native americans. rufus and his fool were part of a growing blablg 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. a very small percentage of black were 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 ira berlin.

the enslaved looking for liberty and freedom. free blacks were looking for equality. free buildings were looking for equality. throughout the duration of the war they would judge 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 jop murray, the earl of dunmorend at appointed governor of virginia. by november of 1775 he had been run out of his quarters in williamsburg, and he was conducting his official business on a ship in the chesapeake bay. on november 7th, 1775, he issued

a proclamation that promised freedom to enslaved men who were lling to fight for the british crown. dunmore was looking for a way to regain power and help great britain and thought draining the resources from the patriot cause like the enslaved labor force 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 known as harry washington, who was enslaved to george washington. henry became a member of lord dunmore's ethiopian regiment. dunmore trained over 800 formerly enslaved men in the basis of musket shooting. he had uniforms with the ensig nia, quote, liberty to the slaves unquote. the rej meant fought in two major battles the last at great ridge virginia where they lost. they lost lives at both battles. they also lost lives to smallpox

epidemic during this period of time. however, dunmore's proclamation created one of the first mass emancipation of enslaved black prior to the civil war. historians have estimated around 80,000 enslaved people fled to 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 concurred and bunker hill were diverse. white, black, and native american soldiers serving together. washington believed you could not have a professional army with black ldiers and could not attract southern planners.

in july of 1775 after he took control of the continental forces he instructed his recruiting officers in the following manner some of the, quote, on the screen there. you are not to enlist any desserters from the ministerial army nor any stroller or person suspected of being an enemy to the liberty of america, unquote. washington would continue this policy throughout the fall of 1775. but to counter dunmore's proclamation, george washington revised his policy towards black soldiers. washington was pressured by command officers and black community leaders like prince hall who would go on to be the leader of the black free mason movement in america. washington was pressured by these command officers and individuals like prince hall to allow the service of black veterans, soldiers who had already proven themselves in

battle. washington changed his policy. in january of 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, the accepted traditional narrative is that 5,000 served. but the d.a.r. in its expansive work titled "forgotten pay trots native american and indigenous that served" have calculated that maybe 6,000 black soldiers served in the continental army and others that pushed the number up to 7,000. they still are working on what the true number is. all right. but because of the change in american military policy, the frank brothers were now able to enlist because they were both free, they were free born. william the older brother signed up to serve with the rhode island state brigade in april of

1777. later that year he 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 a 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 promised land bounties at the

end of the war. soldiers of color treated differently than their white counterparts? they initially served in integrated regiments and companies and received the same pay and equipment. so as free born men, free born black men, the frank brothers were receiving the sought-after quality that many free black were looking for. but what were the frank brothers actually getting themselves into? they became members of the second rhode island regiment 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 passed by congress to provide two infantry regiments the first and the second rhode island. and the regiments were integrated. the franks were not signing up for easy duty. continental soldiers lived tough lives. pay was very sporadic. sporadic due to limited treasury of the new federal government and the state government as well. they were issued equipment.

they were issued muskets and bayonets. issued clothing that consisted mostly of hunting shirts similar to smocks that were large enough to cover their other clothing and equipment. shoes were always in short supply. in the summer soldiers could go bare foot and in the winter, we've heard these stories about the soldiers in the winter sometimes they had to wrap their feet in cloth. soldiers often resorted to forging in the countryside for food and deal with diseases that ran rampant through their camps. on the screen is how colonel angel described the situation of the men who served in the second rhode island. he wrote back to his bosses, he said the regiment is scandalous in appearance in the view of everyone and has because of this incurred from surrounding regiments from the inhabitants of towns through which they have passed the disagreeable and

provoking epithets of the -- in their uniforms were covered with lies. [ inaudible ] such treatment gentleman is discouraging, despairing in its tendencies, it does unman the man. unman the man. render them almost useless in the army. this was the reality of life in the continental army for the 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 diatched to defend the forts along the delaware river beeen pennsylvania and new jersey in october of 1777. froops maryland and connecticut were stationed at fort mifflin on mud island. that is whe the yellow arrow is pointing and the rhode island troops were stationed at fort mercer at red bank where the red arrow is point pg the detachment of soldiers from the second rhode island was sent to reinforce troops at fort

mifflin. initially the rhode island troops were able to defend fort mercer and repel british troops. however, the british were 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 wounded but they did receive praise for the exploits. and the commander of the first rhode island regiment, colonel christopher sgreen received the sword from the rhode island assembly for his work at fort what was their ultimate reward for their service at red bank? winter at valley forge. just march right over there. y. yeah. after the battle the frank brothers and their regiments marched to valley forge, pennsylvania, for the winter in 1777 to 1778. while in camp there, american

troops suffered major losses due to the disease, illness and desertion. washington described 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 bare foot and naked. william frank was one of these soldiers. a week later an additional 1,000 men were on sick row. over 3,000 soldiers deserted. the rhode island regiments were decimated as well due to their losses, there were barely enough soldiers left to form one regiment. colonel angel wrote, quote, i am sorry to inform you that a very

great sickness and mortality prevail among the rhode island troops which is just to proceed in some measures from the badness of their cost. unquote. and the rate of die sergs concerned angel. he wrote, quote, desertion is what we may ever expect so long as the soldier cease that public faith is not to be depended upon, unquote. general varnam who had command was also concerned about the state of the rhode island troops. hi 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 past unquote. and he means fatigues, means the extra duties that they performed in the summer past. in 2019 i had the privilege of visiting valley forge national 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, general varnam made the recommendation to fill their dwindling ranks by recruiting and enlisting enslaved men from rhode island. they were able to convince general washington and the rhode island general assembly to allow the enlistment of enslaved many in return for their freedom. the slave enlistment act was passed february 14th, 1778, and stipulated that any, quote, negro, yolado or indian man slave could enlist with the rhode island regiments. part of the act is on the screen there that went on to say, quote, every slave enlisting shall be entitled to receive all the bounties, wages and

encouragements allowed by the continental congress to any soldier enlisted into their service. it is further voted and resolved that every slave so enlisting upon his pasting muster before colonel green be immediately discharged from the service of his master or miss stress and be absolutely free. so colonel green 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 enslaved men did not last long in rhode island. rhode island slave holders opposed the new law. they feared the consequences of arming exslaves in how that would appear to those in bondage. their opposition prevailed and in june the rhode island assembly repealed the slave enlistment act. in the four month period over

100 freed and formerly enslaved african americans and native americans enlisted. among them were individuals like burke of providence, prymass brown of rhode island, and free blacks and native americans enlisted during this period. that included an individual by the name of peter daly of warwick, rhode island. this may have been the first case of sanctioned segregation in american military history. what military historian robert wright junior has called, quote, an expermit 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 to form the new first rhode island regiment. the frank brothers and other soldiers of color were transferred from the second rhode island to the reconfigured

first rhode island regiment. the reconfigured regiment became known as the black regiment. on this screen are copies of two documents that address that change. the first document on the left side of the screen is part of a pension record from private william chaplin. in he testifies the white men in colonel green's regiment were transferred to angel's regiment underlined on the screen there. the second document is entitled return, meaning a listing, return of free men enlisted for the war. i believe this return listed some of the free born or previously freed men of color who served with the first rhode island regiment. and you can see right there i have magnified the names of the frank brothers but they are listed there on the second document and that document lists over 35 individuals that were considered free prior to the

slave enlistment act. william and ben's first battle in their new regiment would occur on their home soil in rhode island. their regiments were assigned to participate in the rhode island expedition. the main objective of the expedition was to drive british troops from the island in the important port city of newport which is down there at the bottom of the island. southern most important. it was led by general 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 only 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 at the american victory at saratoga in new york in october of 1777. the expedition failed.

when american troops were unable to overcome the british defenses at newport. on the screen is a graphic from the book "the black regiment of the american revolution", and it enlists step by step what happens during the battle of rhode island that would happen during the rhode island expedition. french ships were prevented from participating in the battle due to bad 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 to flee the island on august 29th and during their retreat that the battle of rhode island occurred. initially they come across from the fort, march all the way down to lay siege here and then when they know british reinforcements are coming and the french fleet is gone they have to march back up and right at this point is

where the battle of rhode island occurred. the british forces chased after the retreating troops, caught them at turkey and hill, at points 7 and 8 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 line at durfy's hill. during the afternoon hours in the heat of the day they repelled a combined force of british and haitian troops on three separate occasions and being bombarded with british ships in the harbor since the french had failed to return. by the end of the day r american forces were, however, able to safely retreat from the island. there were total casualties of 30 killed, 137 wounded 44 came up missing. casualties in the first rhode island regiment were three or 10% of the total americans

killed, 25% were missing. the frank brothers were among the survivors. after the battle, the first rhode island regiment was assigned shore patrol duty in rhode island. and this is when the younger brother did something that younger brothers do. they don't think things out. and it was during this period in january of 1779 that ben frank t married. he marrd a young woman by the name of sara will bur. he was 18 years old. sara was the mother of one child. the child's name abraham. ben and sara were married by john gordon of the sixth principle baptist church of east greenwich, rhode island. gordoned a married hannah to an individual by solo mohn wassen 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 18 years old. married with a family to support serving with an army that could not afford to clothes or feed him at this point in time. he and his fellow soldiers called the naked lousy regiment. he survived the winter at valley forge and fought in two battles and both occasions his regiments had to retreat. he lost comrades at both battles. at this point, he may have been convinced that the americans could not win the war. so what did he do? he deserted. in march of 1780, ben frank deserted from the continental army. not uncommon for revolutionary companies to leave for home. one-fifth to one third deserted during the war. for pay. for equipment. lack of food.

and even home sickness drove many soldiers to dessert. foben, there was the additional rden of marriage with insufficient and pay. ben signed up for the duration of the war, however his olr brother had signed up for three years. so that has always been confing to me. however, at this point, ben may have believed that he signed up for a three-year enlistment and his enlistment was almost completed. but for whatever the reasons, ben frank left leaving his brother and wife behind. his wife sara will return to her hometown of middle borrow, 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 free born or freed 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 salomon. salomon was retaken and would later die of disease in camp. ben was never retaken. his older brother william would continue to serve. why? he may have felt responsible to uphold the family name after his younger brother deserted. 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 his service. maybe he believed that the americans would win and he would reap the benefits of being a veteran member of the army that liberated america. for whatever his reasons, he re-enlisted on february 1st,

1781. for the duration of the war at this time. and he would continue to serve with the first rhode island regiment. on the screen is a listing of rhode island soldiers that were compiled in 1781. and there is -- there is william frank there, his age, his occupation. his place of residence of where he was born i should say, place of residence there at johnston. his skin color and his hair color. and where he 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 rhode island had taken heavy casualties in the battles at springfield. this new 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 pines bridge with the primary responsibility for guarding the continental lines. one of those soldiers assigned to colonel green's regiment was lieutenant jeremiah greenman. he was assigned to command the guard at pines bridge. one of the two bridges spanning the river in the northern barrier of what they called neutral ground of westchester county, new york. but this neutral ground was an area of almost daily confrontation between loyalists and patriots. it was also the area of guerrilla warfare carried out by colonel james delansy known as delansy's core ofrefugees. composedof american born soldiers but have chosen to remain loyal to the british cause.

at sunrise on monday, may 14th, 1781, delansled his loyalist militia towards pines bridge. one group attacked colonel green's headquarters located the day venport house. a second party struck greman's guard at the bridge. lieutenant greenman wrote about is in his memoir and sad, quote, this morning was alarmed by the appearance of a party cavalry by infantry. they soon surrounded me an being vastly superior in force and having no ospect of escape, i thought at most advisable to surrender myself and guard prisoners of war. they informed me that colonel green was mortally wounded and major flag killed. one of those individuals that was captured along with lieutenant greman was peter daily the individual from

warwick, roadway, who signed up as a free man signed up during the enslaved act period. i am showing you the front of what the davenport house looks like today. that is where the most brutal fighting occurred. this is where colonel green was awakened from a sleep, and he and his small detachment of soldiers were ambush. >> major flag was shot in the head 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 delansy's troop left the colonel's body at the side of the road, and he was buried with major flag at a site near their headquarters at pines bridge. they are buried at the first

presbyterian church in yorktown, new york. i and other historians believe that the brutal violence perpetrated upon colonel green's body was unusually violent. probably because green was the leader of black soldiers. along with colonel green, who were killed that day, individuals, prince childs was also killed. africa burk who signed up during the slave enlistment time period, cato banister and simon whipple were also killed. their names are inscribed on the mon knew nent on the screen there located in yorktown heights, new york and depicts colonel grn like he's just sprung up out of bed with a sword in hand, a member of the first rhode island black regiment standing there and on the other side is a portrayal of a native american soldier fighting off delansy's refugees.

william frank survived the attack at pines bridge. as a member of the consolidated first and second rhode island regiment he served at the pivotal battle of yorktown in october of 1781 at war's end in 1783. william had served a total of six years. in 1784, william frank would eventually receive back pay in the amount of over $200. he would also receive a land bounty in 1795 which he promptly sold to a land speculator. william settled in his hometown of johnston after the war and became a part of a growing population of free blacks of over 3400 that were now living in the state of rhode island. another 1,000 black remain enslaved. william is listed as a free head of household of two in that federal, the first federal census and the red arrow pointing to william's nim in the

census. okay. his brother ben's life was a little bit more complicated. just a little bit. after ben left the continental army he signed up to serve with british troops. he wasn't alone in fleeing to the british. as i said earlier thousands of 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 remained at new york until the final peace treaty was negotiated and a passage look arranged for them to go to england or british colonies located in the caribbean and canada. part of the peace treaty promised the return of all confiscated property by the british to its rightful american 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 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 returned. 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 black within british lines. this inventory became known as the book of negros. ben frank a free man his whole life and former soldier is listed i believe as ben frnk in the book along with 3,000 black loyalists and a red arrow pointing to his name in the book and i have magnified his name. ben frankham, 21, ordinary fella. not very ordinary. in october of 1783, ben frankham was a passenger on a ship taking him and other loyalists from new

york to nova scotia. they were part of 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 elijah, deposited ben frankham, and its passengers at the fort in late 1783 and that is indicated on the lower map with the red arrow. by april of 1784, ben had relocated to the settlement of, but burketown, nova scotia. at that point in time, birchtown became the largest free black settlement in north america with a population of over 1500 free blacks. and birchtown is just to the left. there's shellbourn and birchtown. many of them lived in makeshift

huts. as you can see on the screen that's what they looked like. that is one of the reconstructed huts they lived in. some black loyalists found the northern climate difficult and were subject to discrimination by other loyalist settlers, many slave holders, also the land that was given to black loyalists was the most rocky and hard to cultivate compared to that that was given to some of the white loyalists. in 1792, prompted by the request of black loyalists, the british government offered black loyalists the chance to resettle in a new colony in sierra leone, africa. more than half, almost two-thirds, of the black loyalists then living in nova scotia around 1200 of them, departed the country and moved permanently sierra leone, including henry washington formerly enslaved to george washington. ben now calling himself ben franklin eventually married

margaret jackson. the daughter of another black loyalist. he settled in grandville ferry nova scotia indicated by the yellow arrow on the screen there 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 his wife had nine children who survived to adulthood. all of them were bap tiesed in the church of england. he passed away some time after 1838. my maternal great grant fatheris a direct descendant of ben franklin. he passed along his family history to the next generation. on the screen, you see pictures in the middle of peter franklin. that's my great uncle, and that is the older brother of my grandfather, who we called pa. and his name was john william franklin. and he's my maternal

grandfather. and he is sitting in a chair in the backyard of his home in lynn, massachusetts, petting his favorite dog, penny. as you can see, he followed the dressing style of his father, by the way he has the hat cobbed at the same angle on his head. which always amazed me. and my great uncle peter has a hat in his hand there, that he took off for the picture. in the early 900s, 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 scotia, if you were a young man got was working on whalers. he got hurt on one of the whaling expeditions and the whaling ship dropped him off in new york city and he decided to stay there. he stayed there and got work, but following the frank/franklin tradition, both peter and john

served in world war i. peter served with a battalion from canada. john william served as part of a new york regiment. he married late in life. he eventually settled in east lynn, massachusetts. he passed away in lynn in 1966. he never gave up his canadian citizenship. he always had a canadian flag hanging in his home on a wall in the dining room. and i always asked him, why do we have a canadian flag in the house, pa? 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 them the frank brothers, part ii. check out their names. my uncles. john william franklin jr. and ben franklin. and they would also continue the service of the military service. both of them served in world war

ii. my uncle, we called him buster, john william franklin jr., 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 ii, and they also served in the korean conflict, as well. so i want to end by reading a section from the epilogue of the book. okay, learning about the franklin family background and origins has been a fascinating personal journey. their struggle to gain standing in their communities and to fight on equal footing with their white counterparts 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 a police officer in toledo, ohio, in 1976, one of the first female officers on the department. my father, a well-respected police investigator, and civil war history buff, instilled a love of history in me, and like rufus frank to his own sons, my father was an inspiring figure in my life. but did the heritage from my maternal line instill an unconventional streak in me that allowed me to envision myself as someone equal in a male-dominated workforce. it's possible that this non-conforming trait came from the prank/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 decisions provide a better framework to understand my own 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 actions

and decisions. to the contrary, the combination of these two die chotomy personalities have motivated me to not only work in public service but also write their story. and i'll end there. questions? [ applause ] >> okay, we do have time for questions. fabulous talk. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> william frank, did he ever apply for a pension? >> that is very -- yes. yes. but his application 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 bounty. and he did receive it. and as i said earlier, he

promptly sold to it a land speculator. there's another part of the franklin tradition that i didn't mention earlier is that there is an understanding that william frank, after the 1790 census would eventually move to the state of louisiana. and if you look in the louisiana census, there are a bunch of franks. i don't know how they are related to us, but there are a bunch of franks listed in the louisiana census starting in the 1800s. thank you for the question. >> dr. green, thank you for a very enlightening presentation. >> thank you. >> i would 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, in learning more about what came before him? >> i think what he 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 brag about that. like, i know people from nova scotia. and they're like, where is that at? so that is what intrigued me the most. i got information, though, about their military service and the military tradition from my uncle ben. my uncle ben was the one that afforded me and gave me all of that information. 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, he said that the first frank came to the americas by way of 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 a young man that lived in the dominican republic. yeah, yeah. so he was always right. always right. yes, sir? yes, ma'am, i'm sorry. >> wonderful talk. >> thank you. >> insightful research and how wonderful to be born into this

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

country. >> anyone else? >> thanks for the talk. >> thank you. >> when -- after they're ejected from virginia, general howe had a very similar ban on the enlistment of negroes into the british army, as well. do you know what happened to the ethiopian regiment? >> most of them -- i haven't done extensive research into the ethiopian regiment, but quite a few them died from small pox and they were disbanded after that. but you are absolutely right, the british weren't -- they didn't treat their black soldiers -- if you want to call them black soldiers -- most of them served in units like the black pioneers. they allowed them serve in auxiliary kind of positions, but not really as soldiers. so you're absolutely right. the ethiopian regiment just kind

of dissolved away, mostly, primarily due to death by disease. thank you for the question. >> thank you. i have one question or comment. in the pine bridge interaction, the lieutenant greenman, was he part of that defensive group that was killed? i mean the green 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 two 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 greenman and others and peter daly, and they were captured. >> and did you get that information from greenman's diry? >> yes. yes. >> 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 from, i think the second rhode island were involved with the capture of some ies. do you know anything about that? >> not right off the top of my head. >> all right. >> thank you, though. >> i remember reading cotton mather, a famous preacher up in massachusetts during the salem witch trials relates that one of the first systems for trial to prevent small box 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. did any of -- you mentioned small pox twice, and i'm curious

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 brought over by, i think, the slaves, the enslaved person's name was osheamus, who was enslaved to cotton mather during that time, and cotton mather passed along that procedure to one of the doctors in his town. washington, at several points in the war, had his troops inoculated against small pox. so he did try to prevent the spread of it. >> second question, quick, i think i know the answer, but quick, tell me, did the black troops ever have black officers or were they all led by caucasians? >> all led by white officers. >> just like world war i.

and world war ii. >> in world war ii, in my position as a historian for the toledo police department and the director of the toledo police museum, going back to world war ii, 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 ii. he was a college graduate. and during his military career, he would be among other black soldiers with college educations, some of them would be evaluated to command positions. so jacob chandler started his career in the american military as a private, eventually would become a lieutenant, and he lost his life serving in italy. right outside of florence, italy. [ inaudible question ] yes, absolutely. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you. this election night, c-span

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