Natick Selectmen will consider resolution on African-American Revolutionary War patriots

Natick/Boston.com: Natick Selectmen will consider resolution on African-American Revolutionary War patriots

Natick selectmen will consider a resolution Monday night that would spur the town to commemorate African-American patriots who served in the Revolutionary War, part of an East Coast movement to pay tribute to the under-appreciated figures.

According to research done by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Natick sent at least 11 registered African-American soldiers to fight the British over two centuries ago.

Between the 5,000 and 10,000 African-Americans estimated to have served in the war, at least 1,174 of these patriots were connected by birth, enlistment or residence to a Massachusetts community, according to Maurice Barboza, founder of The National Mall Liberty Fund DC.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Barboza said. “There could be many more, but these are the names we have.”

Many African-Americans enlisted in the army, navy and militia to gain freedom from their slave masters, Barboza said.

“Some of them were slaves who became soldiers and were recruited to sign up for service to win freedom,” Barboza said. “Many patriots might have served a number of months or for a year or two before winning their freedom, but most African-Americans seeking freedom had to serve the whole war, as part of the deal.”

It is unknown how many African-American patriots were slaves or freed men based on inconclusive listings. African-American Natick residents were not specified enslaved or free in research, Barboza said.

Barboza started The National Mall Liberty Fund DC in 2005 to raise funds and file national legislation to construct a monument dedicated to remembering the African-American patriots in Washington, D.C.

Part of his mission includes spurring individual communities up and down the east coast to draft resolutions acknowledging African-American Revolutionary War fighters by having historical societies conduct research and getting citizens to raise awareness.

For some Natick residents, the cause is near and dear to their heart – and family tree. Beverly Hector-Smith traced her lineage last year to discover she had not one, but nine ancestors who fought for America’s independence from Britain.

“Before March 2010, I didn’t know I had even one,” Hector-Smith said. “That March, I happened to Google my great-great-great-grandmother, and what came up was all the research that David Allen Lambert at the New England Historic Genealogical Society had done a long time ago on African-Americans who lived in Stoughton.”

The research led Hector-Smith to find her fifth-great grandfather, African-born Quock Martrick, who was sold into slavery and enlisted in the war in Middleboro at 24 years old.

This continued on to Hector-Smith’s sixth-great grandfather and his sons, as well as extended family, including stepsons and father-in-laws.

“I believe that they all knew each before or met during the war and their children married, which is why I found so many in such a short time,” she said.

Hector-Smith presented the findings to her younger sister, a Columbus, Ohio resident, who then became the first African-American in Ohio to join the Daughters of the American Revolution.

“She found out this March she was the first African-American in Ohio to become a member of DAR,” Hector-Smith said. “I have yet to apply for membership myself, but I thought that was pretty special.”

In Massachusetts, 12 municipalities have drafted resolutions recognizing the issue.

Woburn, the most recent, promises to encourage “volunteers to discover the names of still-unknown African American Revolutionary War soldiers, sailors and patriots, enlarge the body of knowledge about their lives and forward the information to National Mall Liberty Fund D.C. for inclusion in a database that will celebrate the trail blazers of the City of Woburn together with those of hundreds of proud American communities.”

Barboza said he hopes to raise enough funds to provide each community with a commemorative bronze plaque to display local African-American patriot names in public to increase recognition around the topic.

“It will take some time, because we have to raise funds for that – we’re not asking communities to raise money, but we’re hoping they will provide the constituency and voices to say it’s important to them,” Barboza said. “We also want to make sure the list is complete as possible, so we hope communities contribute additional research.”

Building the monument and stimulating interest in the topic is not Barboza’s only goal.

“It goes deeper than that – our country was created to enshrine certain democratic principles, but unfortunately African-Americans were disappointed,” he said. “Patriots who served in the war were by and large all freed, and went on to establish churches and self-help groups to spawn the civil rights movement. Most Americans don’t know the history, and carry around stereotypes created by media old and not corrected. Our country is based on principle, not pigmentation. This is not just history for African-Americans, but history for every American.”

Natick Board of Selectmen chair Charles Hughes will present the resolution to the rest of the board. Hughes was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.