Richard Pierpoint
Richard Pierpoint was born around 1744 in the Bundu region of West Africa, which is now part of Senegal. At the age of sixteen, he was sold into slavery and transported to British North America, where he initially served as a personal servant to a British officer. During the American Revolution, Pierpoint joined the British military as a means to gain his freedom, eventually becoming a member of Butler's Rangers, a Loyalist regiment that operated in the Niagara region.
Following the war, he was granted land in Ontario, where he attempted to establish a farm and became known as a "griot," or storyteller, within the local Black community. Pierpoint was actively involved in advocating for the rights of Black individuals, signing the Petition of Free Negros in 1794, which sought land grants for freed slaves. His efforts continued during the War of 1812, where he petitioned for the formation of an all-Black military unit, which saw action in several engagements.
Despite facing numerous challenges throughout his life, including the rejection of his petitions for land and return to Africa, Pierpoint's legacy includes his role in supporting Black soldiers and contributing to the early history of Upper Canada. He passed away around 1837, leaving behind a settlement that would carry his name.
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Richard Pierpoint
Soldier, farmer, former slave
- Born: ca. 1744
- Birthplace: Bundu (now Senegal)
- Died: ca. 1837
- Place of death: Garafraxa Township, Upper Canada (now Fergus, Ontario)
Also known as: Black Dick, Captain Dick
Significance: Born in the eighteenth-century West African state of Bundu, Richard Pierpoint was captured and sold into slavery as a teenager. Fighting for the British military during the American Revolution and the War of 1812, Pierpoint earned his freedom and was later involved in forming the so-called Coloured Corps during the War of 1812.
Background
Richard Pierpoint was born around 1744 and lived his first sixteen years in the Bundu region of West Africa, an area that is part of modern-day Senegal. When he was sixteen years old, the French arrived and colonized the region. He was subsequently sold into slavery and survived the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to British North America. He was then sold to a British officer in the Hudson River Valley named Pierpoint and acted as his personal servant for some time.
Upon the outbreak of the American Revolution, Richard Pierpoint, like many black slaves, was given the opportunity to join the British military in exchange for his freedom. He did so, and by 1780 he was one of a number of former slaves serving in the Loyalist regiment known as Butler’s Rangers. The regiment was raised by John Butler, a distinguished American officer from New York who had fought in the French and Indian War, and his unit also included American Indians in its ranks. Butler’s Rangers established their winter quarters on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. It is unknown whether Pierpoint served in a combat position during his service with Butler’s Rangers. However, blacks in the British army were generally assigned to noncombatant labor, so this is likely how he served.
After the war, Butler’s Rangers were disbanded in June of 1784. Like his fellow soldiers, Pierpoint was given a land grant in the Niagara region of Ontario as a reward for his service to the British crown.
Life’s Work
The historical record of Pierpoint’s life is thin. What is known is that Pierpoint and many other Loyalist refugees were resettled in the Niagara region of Ontario (or Upper Canada, as it was known); in 1788 Pierpoint was granted two hundred acres of land on Twelve Mile Creek and worked hard to farm the land by himself. In 1794 Pierpoint was among the signers of the Petition of Free Negros. The petition was signed by nineteen freed slaves in the Niagara region, who requested that they be given land grants next to each other so that they could help each as necessary. The petition was given to Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe on June 29, 1794, but was ultimately rejected. Pierpoint sold his land in 1806 and then worked as a laborer. He came to be respected in the region’s black community as a "griot," a storyteller and oral historian in the West African tradition.
Pierpoint continued to work as a laborer on homesteads in Upper Canada until the beginning of the War of 1812. At the outset of the war, Pierpoint, then in his sixties, petitioned the military governor, Major-General Isaac Brock, for the creation of an all-black unit. His petition was initially rejected as unnecessary, but as the need for volunteers increased, the black unit was eventually formed under the leadership of a white officer named Robert Runchey. The unit became known as Runchey’s Company of Coloured Men.
Pierpoint’s unit saw action at the Battle of Queenston Heights on October 13, 1812, reinforcing Brock, who was killed in the engagement. Although the unit only numbered some thirty men, they performed well against American forces. A year later the unit was reassigned to support the Royal Engineers and spent the remainder of the war erecting and repairing fortifications, most notably, Fort Mississauga at the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario.
When the war ended in 1815, Pierpoint remained in the Niagara region. However, he found life difficult, and in 1821 he petitioned the government for passage back to his homeland in Africa in lieu of the land grant again offered to veterans. However, his petition was once again rejected and he was instead given one hundred acres of land in Garafraxa Township, near the present-day town of Fergus. With his new land grant, Pierpoint was closer than ever to the black community. He had no family, however, and died around 1837, in his nineties; his will, in which he left his land to a friend, Lemuel Brown, was settled in 1838. The community of blacks on and around his land became known as the Pierpoint Settlement.
Impact
Richard Pierpoint was an early black Loyalist who relocated to Canada after he earned his freedom fighting in the American Revolution. He was prominent in rallying black soldiers to fight for the British and the forming of the first "Coloured Corps." While he faced many hardships as a soldier and a farmer, Pierpoint played an important part in the early establishment of Upper Canada.
Bibliography
"Black History Month—The War of 1812: The Contribution of Black Soldiers in the Fight for Canada—Richard Pierpoint Monologue." Government of Canada. Canada, 10 Nov. 2015. Web. 29 Aug. 2016.
El-Safty, Amirah. "That Time We Beat the Americans: Richard Pierpoint." Walrus. Walrus Foundation, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 Aug. 2016.
Fraser, Robert L. "Pierpoint, Richard." Dictionary of Canadian Biography. U of Toronto, 1988. Web. 29 Aug. 2016.
"Major Figures of the War of 1812: Richard Pierpoint, Black Veteran of Three Wars (1744–1838)." Government of Canada. Canada, 12 Nov. 2015. Web. 29 Aug. 2016.
Meyler, Peter, and David Meyler. A Stolen Life: Searching for Richard Pierpoint. Toronto: Natural Heritage, 1999. Print.
Newfield, Gareth. "The Coloured Corps: African Canadians in the War of 1812." War of 1812. RCGS/HDI/Parks Canada, 2011. Web. 29 Aug. 2016.
Pitt, Steve. To Stand and Fight Together: Richard Pierpoint and the Coloured Corps of Upper Canada. Toronto: Dundurn, 2008. Print.
"War of 1812." Black History Canada. Historica Canada, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2016.