In our book From Slaves to Soldiers, Lorén Spears and I highlighted the enlistment of indigenous people who fought in the Revolutionary War. Many of these soldiers were free men who served in both Rhode Island regiments, placed mostly among the enslaved and others recruited for the 1st Rhode Island regiment which would become famously known as the “black regiment”.

As with all enlisted men who were not seriously wounded in the War of Independence, the pensions promised to the soldiers were long in coming, and furthermore, applications for such pensions from men of color were in some cases delayed or refused by a lack of understanding of tradition and heritage as well as racial prejudices and suspicion of fraudulent accounts and depositions. This was also true for men of the local indigenous tribes that had served, including the Narragansett people.

By the time of the Revolutionary War, a significant number of tribal members had intermarried into the black community of enslaved people within Rhode Island, especially if they worked either as indentured servants or were descended of previous generations of enslaved workers.

This often led to mis-identification and ultimately, the loss of identity in state records, including census records which often issued one race for a mixed-race household; in what one Narragansett historian has named “a paper-genocide” of his people[i].

Few indigenous soldiers who served in the 1stand 2ndRhode Island Regiments applied for a pension. This may have been as Spear’s noted, that these former soldiers were not aware of the process of filing an application. Others may have forgone the process as a matter of pride, as in fighting to defend their homeland but not wishing to become beholden to a government that had forced their people onto a reservation three quarters of a century before the war began.

Still others may have fallen prey to the legion of already wealthy “investors” who purchased pension claims from revolutionary veterans of all color who had become destitute in the difficult years after the war while waiting for Congress to determine their compensation.

Utilizing a list of indigenous soldiers compiled for our book from the DAR and Grundset’s publication of Forgotten Patriots, I found only a handful of pension applications, some of which clearly show the skeptical views of government officials as they sorted through the many pension applications that they received, indicating that indigenous veterans as with other veterans of color, often found their efforts to obtain a pension a difficult ordeal.

An example of such scrutiny can be examined from the family of George Rutter Gardner.

Gardner[ii]was a slave of Benjamin Gardiner when he married Thankful Babcock, a Narragansett woman on September 12, 1763. Thankful was the slave of Hezekiah Babcock of South Kingstown. Her first son Robbin Babcock, adopted the master’s last name, indicating he may have been born before her marriage to Gardner. Later children, a daughter Patience, and sons London, and Sharper took Gardner’s name. All of these children were Narragansett, based upon the tribe’s matrilineal heritage, though all were misidentified in the records. George Rutter Gardner died in South Kingstown about 1795. His widow Thankful applied for a Revolutionary War pension, detailing his service during the war.

His son Sharper Rutter Gardner was a slave of Benjamin Gardner of South Kingstown. He enlisted on February 27, 1778 and served in the 1st Rhode Island regiment as a private in Capt. John Dexter’s company. He deserted the regiment on June 1, 1781 shortly after the devastating attack on the regiment’s encampment by loyalists in New York State. He was captured on June 20, 1782 and a court martial handed down the sentence of death the following day.

The sentence was never carried out and Sharper Gardner was later pardoned by General Washington. He rejoined the regiment in September 1782 and served until his discharge in June 1783[iii]. He apparently died however, some time before applications were allowed to be filed.

With the support of his siblings London and Patience, Sharper’s half-brother Robbin applied on behalf of the family the in 1812. The pension file included testimony from Captain John L. Dexter, in whose company Sharper Gardner had served, and fellow soldiers Primus Babcock, and Prince Bento, who testified to his familiarity with the Father and son, further supporting the statement Robbin Babcock had written to authorities:

“I was an Enlisted soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served during the same in the Rhode Island black regiment commanded by Col. Greene who was succeeded by Col. Olney in command.

That I was there acquainted with George Utter Gardner and his son Sharper Gardner, who both enlisted into the regiment to serve during the war and did actually serve to the end…and were to my knowledge discharged therefrom, and both of whose discharges I have heard.

I further testify that about twenty years after, the said Sharper Gardner went from this County to New York & soon after which his friends received a letter from some person in New York informing them of the death of P(rivate) Sharper, since which I have never heard of (from?) P. Sharper…and believe that he is dead.

I further testify that about seventeen years ago George Utter Gardner died in South Kingston in this County, leaving a widow and three children, two sons and one daughter, namely Robin, London, and Patience, which three were the only said children of George Utter Gardner…which widow is now dead and the said Sharper Gardner left no child, and no brother or sister except the said Robin, (who now labors by the name of Robin Babcock after the name of his late master Hezekiah Babcock[iv]”.

Robin Babcock eventually hired Elisha R. Potter to serve as “my true, sufficient & Lawful Attorney for me in my name & stead to ask, demand, levy, require, Recover & receive the Land Warrants which my Father George Utter Gardner and my brother Sharper Utter Gardner were intitled to as a bounty for their service in the Revolutionary War, and also to recover and receive any sum…of money as may be due to my father or brother as wages for their service in said War, and to give such discharge as the law requires in such cases…”

In December of 1813, the Department of War ruled that the father and son had indeed served throughout the war. The remaining family members were then awarded the land grant due his relations.Narragansett John Harry served three years under Col. Greene and Col. Jeremiah Olney of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. He is also listed as serving in Allen’s detachment from June – December 1783. Harry and his wife Mary applied for a pension for his service, as any soldier was permitted who had served at least three months with the army.

In addition, his application supplied testimony from his acquaintance and employer Levi Totten written in 1820. Totten wrote that he had been acquainted with John Harry since 1783 at the close of the war

“for the past three years he has been in a debilitative state of Health and unable to perform a Man’s Day’s Work, three years since I employed him and at sundry times since have employed him to labor for me…He has repeatedly shown me a wound in his side, and part of his ribs appear to be missing. I always understood that he received the wound whilst in the Revolutionary Army[v]”.

During the investigation, an agent from the Pension Board noted that Harry and his wife were receiving income from land they had leased. This was land actually owned by Mary, and the lease of forty-two acres from 1812 had been arranged by the tribe in order to give the couple an income of twenty dollars per year, as they had become destitute. In order to clarify this issue, the tribal council submitted a copy of the agreement, as well as tribal council member

Augustus Harry, penning an eloquent and non-equivocating epistle to government officials:

“I have personally known John Harry of Charlestown…who is also one of said Tribe, as long as I remember any body. I never knew him (to) own any Land or real Estate of any kind. If he had owned any, I believe it would have come to my knowledge. Since I arrived at the age of twenty-one years, I have been elected and served as a Member of the Tribal Council of said Tribe, twenty-five years, and am now a Member of said Council.

The Council of the Tribe, who are annually elected, superintend & direct the Municipal Concerns of the Tribe, according to the Customs and Usages of said Tribe, particularly the letting out and leasing of the Lands belonging to said Tribe, and of the individuals who choose to Let their Lands. The Narragansett Tribe, and the individuals thereof, hold their land in a tenure peculiar to themselves. Not as the white People hold lands.

An individual of said Tribe cannot sell or convey any Land descended to him or her, nor mortgage it, or charge it with Debts as white people do. But when a Member of that Tribe dies, his or her Land descends to his or her Children or next of kin, Generally without distinction of Male or Female, and if a member of the Tribe abandons their land and goes without the (e)state, the next Heirs or Heir enters & occupies it.

Neither can a member of said Tribe lease out or let his or her land without the approbation and Signatures of a Majority of the Indian Council. Neither can a Member of the Tribe dispose of his or her land by Will as white people do.

I further testify that John Harry…is very poor. I believe him destitute of property, quite infirm, and unable to do hard labor. He sometimes performs some light work for which he receives some Compensation, but at present is principally supported by his Children who labor for their Support. If he was not helped by his Children, he would in some Measure be Chargeable to the Tribe, who support all their own Poor.

John Harry’s wife, who is Mother of their Children holds land that is descended to her, which, if she should die, would by our Usages & Customs descend immediately to his Children. This Land, according to our Customs and with the Approbation of the Council, she lets out for her own Support. He has no control over it.

I further testify that her Land, except about 2 acres has lately been leased out by Approbation of the Council for seven years to enable her to have a small house erected on that 2 acres for the Residence of herself & family, and that all the Rents for said seven years appropriated to that purpose. The Council considered it necessary as John Harry, his wife & family were destitute of a house.

Both John Harry and his Wife have nothing but their Labor to depend on for Support. She cannot receive anything from her Land until the expiration of her lease, which will not happen for six years to come, or not till, about that time. And if in the Mean time, John Harry’s wife should be sick, or become Lame, or unable to work, I know of nothing that would prevent her from becoming chargeable to the Tribe, at least until the expiration of the lease before mentioned.

The house & 2 acre Lot I expect John & his wife now occupy; and believe it would not rent for more than ten dollars a year[vi]”. John Harry eventually received a pension of $8.00 per month on November 8, 1820[vii].

For widows of veterans with little documentary evidence, the ordeal was even more difficult.

Such was the case for Narragansett Bridget George, widow of John George who had enlisted in

Charlestown, Rhode Island in 1780 and served three years in the 1st, and consolidated Rhode Island regiment. John George had applied for a pension in 1818 and had been approved for a pension of $8.00 per month. He died just two years later, leaving his wife without any income.

She applied for assistance from the department of war some seventeen years after his death when Congress authorized funds for widows of pensioners. Now age 79, Bridget could neither read or write, and her infirmities prevented her from attending a hearing. She was then assisted by Israel Chapman, Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, in submitting her deposition in 1837.

Her deposition is interesting reading, for while Justice Chapman seems to faithfully record her remarks, he also clearly implies that her memory might be faulty. What is one to make for instance of the following wording when recording that her husband “had then & afterwards” served “for the duration and the then remaining period of the war, or for the period of three years, which of those periods she cannot now be certain[viii]”.

John George had gone with the 1stRhode Island regiment to New York, and was captured in the surprise attack at the Croton River in May 1781. Chapman recorded her recollection that

“When Col Greene was Killed the said John, if she rightly remembers, was taken prisoner by the enemy, at what particular place she cannot remember & after a considerable time, the length of which she cannot remember, a prisoner; he was restored to the American Army and the time for which he had enlisted, either under Col. Olney or Col. Angell…the Captain’s name under whom the said John served, if he told her, she does not recollect.[ix]”

Moreover, Chapman informed the department “She has no evidence of the said John’s service with her claim for a pension” He also stated that the claimant “declares that she was married to the said John George in July of 1776, but the day of the month on which she was married she cannot remember[x]”, and while she recalled that they were married by Peleg Cross, a Justice of the Peace, “she has no certificate of said marriage, nor does the declarant even have (the said John’s) death certificate.[xi]”

Attempts to find her marriage certificate turned up empty, no record seems to have been filed, or it was lost. Nonetheless, she was confident that records found in the War department would find her to be truthful. Though it may seem her claim was deeply flawed, in a postscript, her recorder indicates that he has known her for some time, and believes her entitled to a hearing. Chapman also seems to have reached out to others for testimony, and the town clerk wrote in her defense that while he could not find a record of her marriage,

“I believe many marriages take place in the said town of Charlestown which are not recorded and for many years past taken place that were not Recorded or lodged for record…[xii]”

Narragansett women also came to her defense. Susan Henry wrote that she was well acquainted with the couple and had attended their wedding at the house of Moses Skesuck, the brother of Bridget, and a former indigenous soldier of the revolution as well. Elizabeth Primus also provided written testimony affirming the same.

Most importantly for authorities, former Major John Dexter also provided a written testimony in which he declared that John George did

“…faithfully serve from the time of his inlistment in the Regiment…co-commanded by Col. Christopher Greene and Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Jeremiah Olney in the Rhode Island line in the Continental Establishment until the twenty-fifth day of December 1783 when he was honorably discharged in Saratoga, New York[xiii]”.

Bridget George received a payment of $560.00 issued on March 4, 1838, by which time she had reached eighty years of age.

[i]In my book Keepers of the Bay: A History of the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island, I trace the trajectory of 19thcentury historical narratives that portrayed the tribe in the past tense in the chapter entitled The Ghosting of A People. This belief often colored, so to speak the view of the tribe and their efforts to retain their identity. As early as 1836 when Governor John Brown Francis was invited to a Pow-Wow, his hastily written memo to an aide reads “What’s this about a Pow-Wow? I thought they were all negroes now…”

[ii]Gardner’s name also appears as “George Utter Gardner/Gardiner” in several sources, but his name is spelled “George Rutter Gardner” in his record of marriage to Thankful Babcock in Hopkington town records.

[iii]Eric Grundset, Forgotten Patriots pp. 214-215

[iv]NARA Revolutionary War Pension Files B.L. Wt. 619-100

[v]NARA M804 Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, roll 1206, p. 10

[vi]Ibid. p. 15

[vii]Ibid. p.

[viii]NARA M804 Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, roll 1062, p. 4

[ix]Ibid. p. 5

[x]Ibid.

[xi]Ibid. p. 6

[xii]Ibid. p. 14

[xiii]Ibid. p. 13