By Marilyn May
Milford History
“I, Benjamin Simmons, otherwise called Ben Black, for 30 years past, an inhabitant of Milford…under oath declare that I faithfully served my country in the revolutionary war for three years on the contin’tal establishment – that in the spring of 1777 I enlisted (as) a private soldier by the name of Benjamin Black for three years into the company of Capt. Elijah Humphreys, the Regiment was commanded part of the time by Col. William Douglass and part of the time by Col. Jon.” R Meigs in the Connecticut line.”
So began the struggle by one Black soldier to get his due pension as a Revolutionary War veteran when Benjamin Simmons gave a deposition for his pension on April 6, 1818 in New Haven.
He further testified:
“I served in this Company and Regiment till my tour of duty ended, when I received an honorable discharge but which by time and accident has been lost and that by reason of my reduced circumstance in life I stand in need of assistance from my Country for support, I therefore pray that I may be placed on the pension list of the United States according to the provisions of an Act of Congress passed March 18th, 1818 entitled An Act to provide for certain persons engaged by land and naval service of the United States in the revolutionary war – Benjamin Simons (sic)”
The deposition above was reprinted in a 2007 issue of The Connecticut Nutmegger, a periodical published by the Connecticut Society of Genealogists.
Despite testimonies of his service from others, Simmons was not listed on the pension rolls, but he knew that he had earned it and petitioned for years to get it.
Part of the problem was that at various times in his life he used four different surnames. Benjamin Simmons was also known by the last names Black, Roberts and Freeman. It’s no wonder there was a lot of confusion.
In civilian life, Simmons had been a cooper until he was no longer able to do the work. He married Patty Oviatt, also known as Patty Sharp, on Jan. 18, 1783 in Derby. They had six children: Benjamin, Hannah, Levi, Samuel, Elijah and Sylvester. The legality of the marriage, however, was much later in question by pension boards.
The Wood Memorial Library and Museum in South Windsor says on its website that “at least 820 African American soldiers and seamen from Connecticut served in the Revolutionary War, representing 80 towns. Lack of documentation and confusion over names are common problems for researchers.”
Thanks to initiatives by Milford’s Freelove Baldwin Stow Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the First Baptist Church on North Street, a memorial stone on the church’s front lawn was dedicated in 1976 in remembrance of six Black soldiers from Milford who fought in the Revolution: Job Caesar, Pomp Cyrus, Juba Freeman, Peter Gibbs, William Sower and Congo Zado. It’s likely there were more Black American Revolution vets from Milford, but records are hard to trace.
At an August 1818 hearing before Justice of the Peace Simeon Baldwin, it was stated that Benjamin Simmons (c. 1742-1838), otherwise called Benjamin Black or Benjamin Roberts, is the same person who had his name changed from Simmons to Black at the suggestion of Capt. Elijah Humphrey. Why Humphrey made that suggestion is not explained, but Simmons was called Benjamin Black during his time in the Army.
Later in life, he learned that his father’s name had been Roberts, so he was then known in Milford as Benjamin Roberts, again according to The Connecticut Nutmegger. Lastly, he also used the surname Freeman. It does not say where that name came from.
Benjamin Simmons, Black, Roberts, Freeman, however, fought hard for recognition and his pension.
Other citizens championed his cause. On Aug. 29, 1818, Capt. Charles Pond, a prominent Milford citizen supporting Simmons’s claim wrote a deposition:
“I Charles Pond of Milford…say that I well knew a soldier in Capt. Elijah Humphrey’s Company, Col. Miegs Regiment in the army of the revolution by the name of Benjamin Black and that the same man now lives in sd (said) Milford and is commonly called Benjamin Roberts a colored man (and) that his character for truth and veracity is good and that he is in indigent circumstances and stands in need of assistance from his country for support.”
At one of Simmons’s hearings, he submitted a list of his property: one very small and old hut on the highway valued at $12; two old tables worth $1; one old iron kettle worth 25 cents; two old cider barrels valued at 80 cents, and other items, including clothing and bedding that brought the total of his worldly goods to $28.30.
Simmons gave another deposition for his pension on July 6, 1820 in Milford, and at that time, who knows why, he signed it “Benjamin Freeman alias Benjamin Black.” There is no information on why he suddenly called himself Freeman, but “Benjamin Freeman alias Benjamin Black” did swear on his oath that he served in the Revolutionary War.
The record states that on that same day he was entered onto the list of pensioners and received Pension Certificate No. 2721, entitling him to $8 a month retroactive to April 6, 1818, when he had first applied.
For Simmons, his last battle of the American Revolution was over.
He died on Jan. 18, 1838 in Orange. (In 1822, the Northern Milford Parish had become the Town of Orange when the Connecticut legislature incorporated the area as a separate municipality.)
The battle for Patty’s widows’ rights, however, was just beginning.
As Simmons’s widow, Patty (c.1765-1845) was entitled to half pay and a pension by virtue of an act of Congress passed July 7, 1838, the same year her husband died. In 1839 she appeared before the Hon. Nathaniel R. Clark, the presiding judge in a New Haven court of probate. (To make things even a little more complicated, Patty Simmons was also known before marriage as Patty Oviatt, and was also known as Patty Sharp.)
Patty Simmons was duly sworn and made the declaration that she was the widow of Benjamin Simmons (sometimes called Black or Roberts) of Orange (previously Milford). She also testified that she was married to said Benjamin Simmons on Jan. 18, 1783 by the Rev. Mr. Mansfield, rector of the Episcopal Church in Derby.
Then a new problem arose. She had long ago lost her marriage certificate, there were no town or church records of the marriage and there were no witnesses to the ceremony still living. She was denied her request for a widow’s pension for lack of proof of her marriage.
Despite having depositions from eight prominent people supporting her claim of marriage, the court declined to recognize her statement. Depositions on her behalf were written by Susan Treat, John Bryan, Issac Clark, Samuel Persons, David Treat, Mehetable Treat and Amos and Abigail Clark, who all testified under oath that she was Benjamin Simmons’s legal wife. But that was all to no avail. Patty never received any widow’s pension support.
She died a pauper on Feb. 18, 1845, seven years after her husband’s death. The only list she ever ended up on was the Orange town poor list. Costs for her coffin, grave diggers and other funeral expenses were paid by the town.
Marilyn May is a lifelong resident of Milford and is on the board of the Milford Historical Society.