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BLACK REVOLUTIONARY ERA PATRIOT
Wentworth Cheswell
(1746-1817)
At WallBuilders we strive to "present America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious, and constitutional heritage," so Wentworth Cheswell (sometimes Chiswell or Cheswill) is a perfect subject for our attention.
He was the grandson of black slave Richard Cheswell (who early gained his freedom and in 1717 and became the first black to own property in the colony of New Hampshire); and he was the son of Hopestill Cheswell, a notable homebuilder who built the homes of several patriot leaders, including John Paul Jones and the Rev. Samuel Langdon. Wentworth was named after the famous Wentworth family, from whom came several state governors, including Benning Wentworth - the governor at the time of Wentworth's birth.
In 1763, Wentworth began attending an academy in Byfield, Massachusetts (30 miles from his home), where for four years he received an extensive education, studying Latin, Greek, swimming, horsemanship, reading, writing, and arithmetic.
In 1767, he returned home and became a schoolteacher, also marrying Mary Davis (they eventually had 13 children - 4 sons and 9 daughters). At the age of 21, he had already become an established and educated property owner and a stalwart in his local church, even holding a church pew.
The following year, Wentworth was elected town constable - the first of many offices he held throughout his life. Two years later in 1770, he was elected town selectman (the selectmen were considered the "town fathers" of a community). Other town offices in which he served included seven years as Auditor, six years as Assessor, two years as Coroner, seven years as town Moderator (presiding over town meetings), and twelve years as Justice of the Peace, overseeing trials, settling disputes, and executing deeds, wills, and legal documents. (View an 1813 document signed by Cheswell as justice of the peace.) For half a century - including every year from 1768 until 1817 - Wentworth held some position in local government.
In addition to his civic service, Wentworth was also a patriot leader. In fact, the town selected him as the messenger for the Committee of Safety - the central nervous system of the American Revolution that carried intelligence and messages back and forth between strategic operational centers. Serving in that position, Wentworth undertook the same task as Paul Revere, making an all-night ride to warn citizens of imminent British invasion.
In April 1776, he signed a document in which he pledged, "at the risk of . . . live and fortune," to take up arms to resist the British, and in September 1777, he enlisted in a company of Light Horse Volunteers commanded by Colonel John Langdon (Langdon later became one of the 55 Founding Fathers who drafted the U. S. Constitution, then a framer of the Bill of Rights, and later the New Hampshire governor). Langdon's company made a 250-mile march to Saratoga, New York, to join with the Continental Army under General Horatio Gates to defeat British General Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga - the first major American victory in the Revolution.
After returning from Saratoga, in the spring of 1778, Wentworth was elected to the convention to draft the state's first constitution, but some unknown event prevented his attendance.
Wentworth also served as Newmarket's unofficial historian, copying town records from 1727 (including the records of various church meetings) and chronicling old stories of the town as well as its current events. Additionally, having investigated and made extensive notes on numerous artifacts and relics he discovered in the region around Newmarket, he is considered the state's first archeologist. Therefore, when the Rev. Jeremy Belknap published his famous three-volume History of New Hampshire (1784-1792), he relied on (and openly acknowledged) much information he gleaned from Wentworth.
In 1801, Wentworth helped start the town library to preserve and disseminate useful knowledge and virtue. His commitment to providing helpful information is not surprising, for not only had he become a school teacher in 1767 but in 1776 he was elected as one of five men to regulate and oversee the schools of Newmarket.
In 1817, in his 71st year of age, Wentworth succumbed to typhus fever and was buried on the family farm, where other members of his family were later buried. In fact, when his daughter Martha died (his last surviving heir), her will provided that any members or descendants of the family could forever forward be buried on the farm. Unfortunately, that family graveyard long lay in disrepair, but in recent years friends and family have managed to restore it.
The legacy of Wentworth Cheswell is a lasting one: a patriot, teacher, and church leader; an historian, archeologist, and educator; a judge and official elected to numerous offices (he is considered the first black American elected to office in America). He is truly one of our forgotten patriots but he is a laudable example for all Americans - a hero worth remembering and honoring during Black History Month.
Sources:
William C. Nell, The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, With Sketches of Several Distinguished Colored Persons: To Which is Added a Brief Survey of the Conditions and Prospects of Colored Americans (Boston: Robert F. Wallcut, 1855), pp. 120-121.
Sidney and Emma Nogrady Kaplan, The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution, Revised Edition (Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1989), pp. 200-202.
Thomas Truxtun Moebs, Black Soldiers-Black Sailors-Black Ink: Research Guide on African-Americans in U.S. Military History, 1526-1900 (Chesapeake Bay: Moebs Publishing Company, 1994), pp. 226, 259, 280.
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Who were the three men who yelled the redcoats are coming?
Actually it was "the british are coming" and one man, Paul Revere
Why did Britain sent a warship to new England to get the colonies to stop protesting the townshend acts?
The colonists trained and fought back. They warned the British along the way, and threatened the British by making a life sized replica of the local stamp man. They hung it from a tree and chanted: What a greater joy shall New England see, than a British stamp man, hanging from a tree? They eventually won over the British.
Is Paul Revere a horse or a human?
Paul Revere is a man who rode through the street of Boston in 1775 to warn the citizens the British are coming.
Who rode and said the british are coming?
The fable of Revere comes from a Longfellow poem written in 1861 and in reality he didn't ride through the night yelling about the British coming. Longfellow wrote his poem on the eve of the civil war to remind people of the nation's history. Somehow the poem became part of history and was put into history books as fact. Revere never finished the ride, his horse was taken away and he was held by a British patrol, but thanks to Longfellow we all know who he is .
Was Paul Revere a great man?
Many people consider Paul Revere to have been a great man. Revere was a hero of the American Revolution. He is probably most well-known for having alerted the Colonial militia that British forces were approaching.
Who was the man who warned Boston the British were coming?
Paul Revere
Who was the man who warned Samuel Adams about the british but it wasnt paul revere?
Actually it was William Dawes
Who were the three men who yelled the redcoats are coming?
Actually it was "the british are coming" and one man, Paul Revere
What prophets warned against sin?
All prophets warned man against sin.
How were the Americans involved in the battle of Yorktown?
They were involved because Paul Revere had just warned the minutemen about the british coming then the british collided with the minutemen and one of the british officials asked the minutemen to leave and so they turned aroud and walked away but all of a sudden someone shot a pistol s(knowone knows which side shot it even to this day) At the end 9 minutemen were killed and 8 were injured when only one british man was wounded.
What parts of the encounter between the british redcoats and the colonists does the engraving entirely leave out?
The first man shot to death was Crispus Attucks who was a black man and nobody in the engravement is black
What did Sybil Ludington do that was so important?
Sybil Ludington rode 25 miles on her horse star to tell people that the British were burning down Danbury. she rode twice the length of paul reveere yet she is way more famous then him. Edited: Sybil rode 40 miles on her horse named Star. She was sixteen and Paul Revere was 40 and only rode 10 miles. Paul Revere is more famous than Sybil. Sybil Ludington was important to the Revolutionary War because she had warned a colony that the Regulars were coming (The British), she had asked her dad to do that instead of him asking her.
Why did Britain sent a warship to new England to get the colonies to stop protesting the townshend acts?
The colonists trained and fought back. They warned the British along the way, and threatened the British by making a life sized replica of the local stamp man. They hung it from a tree and chanted: What a greater joy shall New England see, than a British stamp man, hanging from a tree? They eventually won over the British.
Who was the wise old man who warned Jason about the crashing rocks?
Phineas.
What black woman was accused of being a man?
Mary Ann Talbot, a British woman from the 18th century, was accused of being a man due to her masculine appearance and strength. Talbot served in the British Navy and was later captured by the French who also believed her to be a man.
Is Paul Revere a horse or a human?
Paul Revere is a man who rode through the street of Boston in 1775 to warn the citizens the British are coming.
Who rode and said the british are coming?
The fable of Revere comes from a Longfellow poem written in 1861 and in reality he didn't ride through the night yelling about the British coming. Longfellow wrote his poem on the eve of the civil war to remind people of the nation's history. Somehow the poem became part of history and was put into history books as fact. Revere never finished the ride, his horse was taken away and he was held by a British patrol, but thanks to Longfellow we all know who he is .
