By Warren E. Milteer, Jr.
In my new book, Beyond Slavery’s Shadow: Free People of Color in the South, I introduce readers to the experiences of persons of African and/or Native American descent who were free in the South in the period in which slavery was legal in the United States. More than 250,000 free people of color lived in the South on the eve of the Civil War. Yet their stories are not widely known. Maybe even less understood is the role Nansemond County (now the city of Suffolk) played in the history of this population.
Slightly fewer than 2,500 or nearly 1 out of every 100 free people of color lived in Nansemond County in 1860, giving the county one of the largest populations of free people of color in the South. In 1800s, free people of color could be found in every corner of the county. They carried family names such as Read, Ash, Copeland, Bowser, Faulk, White, Boone, Wiggins, Holland and Sawyer. Some of these families had freedom that dated back to the colonial period while others obtained their liberty through manumission, a legal process that allowed enslaved people to become free persons.
Free people of color played key roles in Nansemond County’s social and economic spheres. Amariah Read, James Bowser and Abram Read served in the American Revolution and helped the U.S. break away from Great Britain. In the nineteenth century, farmers, laborers, fieldhands, washerwomen and oystermen were common among the free people of color. David White, a brick mason, and Litha Briggs, a midwife, were among the other tradespeople. The Dismal Swamp Land Company employed several free men of color to work in the Great Dismal Swamp, including Patrick Milteer, a shingle getter, Luke Ash, a boatman, and Dick Tynes, a carpenter and repairman. Most free people of color remained relatively poor, but a few obtained their own farms and homes. Dempsey Hare was among the most prosperous free people of color in the county, owning over 300 acres in 1860.
Although the importance of free people of color cannot be understated, their significance was not always reflected in their treatment under the law. Virginia lawmakers passed numerous acts in the 1700s and 1800s that negatively affected them. Lawmakers prevented them from voting and testifying in court against white people, restricted their ability to travel, imposed discriminatory taxes against them, excluded them from the public schools, and attempted to deport them to Africa.
Free people of color helped blaze the path to equality during the Civil War. While some free people of color were forced to labor for the rebels during the war as servants and laborers on fortifications, many others enlisted in the U.S. military and helped to suppress the rebellion. John Chalk served in the Second U.S. Colored Cavalry. James Bowser lost his life after serving as a guide to the U.S. forces. Rebel scouts murdered Bowser in retaliation for his loyalty to his country. Yet the sacrifice of Bowser and others was not in vain. Their efforts opened the way to the end of slavery and the collapse of the regime that had imposed many forms of discrimination against them. The descendants of Nansemond County’s free people of color have continued to impact Suffolk and other parts of Hampton Roads, working as business people, contractors, doctors, nurses, teachers, ministers, civic leaders, and shipbuilders. For more about the book and author, go to warrenmilteer.com.