Researching the Early History of Black Lives in the Connecticut River Valley

Introduction

From at least as early as the American Revolution and likely before, Black soldiers have participated in military units across Massachusetts. Estimates suggest that some 5,000 African Americans served in the Revolutionary army, and many of these men were from Massachusetts. In Boston, an all-black military company formed called the Bucks of America, but Valley men too seized the opportunity the rebellion offered to change their circumstances. Part of the story of one of these men, Cesar Phelps--enslaved by Charles and Elizabeth Phelps of Hadley, Massachusetts--is told on the website Revolution Happened Here (a project of the Pioneer Valley History Network in partnership with local history organizations; the entry includes a letter Phelps sent home from Ft. Ticonderoga, more than a year after he joined the Continental Army at Cambridge, a rare example of correspondence from an enslaved person in 1770s Massachusetts).

A significant resource for locating soldiers of color is Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors & Marines of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, a multi-volume set that contains brief biographical & service information on Massachusetts Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers. See Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War: a Compilation from the Archives [1896] and Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the Civil War [1931] . For more information and resources, click here.

Researchers interested in locating Valley men of color who served in the American Revolution could review “Forgotten Patriots,” an effort by the Daughters of the American Revolution “to identify the names of African Americans, Native Americans, and individuals of mixed heritage who supported the American struggle for independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution:” h ttps://www.dar.org/library/research-guides/forgotten-patriots. Names can be sorted alphabetically in this document by either county or community, making the material more accessible to those with a specific geographical interest. This source also includes a robust "Bibliography of Massachusetts African Americans and Native Americans in the Revolutionary Era," beginning on p. 171.

An important chapter in the history of local Black military service in the U.S. Civil War is the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Men of color from the Valley served in this now-famous unit, including Rev. Samuel Harrison, the unit's chaplain and the post-war pastor of the Sanford Street Congregational Church in Springfield, who had by then led a successful fight to secure equal pay for those soldiers. Other Valley veterans include Amherst's Christopher Thompson and Charles Thompson, whose service is today memorialized among 300 Civil War veterans on a series tablets on view at the Bangs Center; for an article about Black servicemen from the town of Amherst, click here. The Springfield Republican published articles about gatherings of "colored veterans," including the G.A.R.; see e.g. "The colored veterans at Boston," August 3, 1887.

More recently (since the beginning of WWII), the Valley has become home to Westover Air Reserve Base, an Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) installation located in Chicopee and Ludlow. The base may hold relevant records.

Researching the Early History of Black Lives in the Connecticut River Valley

Introduction

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