Pomp Jackson, also known as Pompey Jackson, was an African man likely born in the 1750s. He became the property of a Jonathan Jackson, a prominent Newburyport merchant shortly after his arrival in Essex County. According to the "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors Masterlist" curated in 1896, Pomp Jackson was described as a Black man standing at 5’6”.
Pomp Jackson enlisted in Colonel Edmund Phinney’s regiment on June 15th, 1776. About four days later on June 19th, 1776, Jonathan Jackson freed Pomp. Jackson is quoted as saying:
“the impropriety I feel… in beholding any person in constant bondage — more especially at a time when my country is so warmly contending for the liberty every man ought to enjoy… and having sometime since promised my negro man, Pomp, that I would give him his freedom, and in further consideration of five shillings paid by me by said Pomp, I do hereby liberate, manumit, and set him free.”
While there is no explicit connection between Pomp's manumittance and his enlistment, the timing of each event occurring can hardly be coincidental.
In November of 1776, Pomp Jackson reenlisted for the remainder of the war and served as a fifer, a non-combatant soldier, in Captain Joseph Vose’s Regiment until he was discharged in June of 1783. There is unfortunately not much recorded about Pomp's life post-war. It is believed that Pomp died in Philadelphia, PA on October, 17th 1808 at the age of 54, but there is no documentation of Pomp's death.
Sources
- Ancestry.com. "Payroll with Pomp Jackson's name." U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783. Available at Ancestry.com.
- Ancestry.com. "Marriage License for Pomp Jackson." New Hampshire, U.S., Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659-1947 . New England Historical Genealogical Society; New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire [database on-line]. Available at Ancestry.com.
- "Forgotten Patriots: African American and American Indian Patriots in the Revolutionary War." Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Available at DAR.org
- Hannigan, John. "Patriots of Color: The African and Native American Patriots of the Revolutionary War - Paper 3." National Park Service. Available at NPS.gov.
- Holton, David-Parsens, "Farwell Ancestral Memorial for Henry Farwell of Concord and Chelmsford, Massachusetts." Boston: D.P. Holton, 1879. Pages 110-111. Available a: Archive.org.
- Massachusetts Archives. "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, Volume 8." Available at: State Library of Massachusetts Digital Collections.
Edited by Alisa Grishin