Richard pierpoint biography

PIERPOINT (Parepoint, Pawpine), RICHARD, also known as Captain Dick and Black Dick, soldier, militiaman, labourer, and farmer; b. c. 1744 in Bondu (Senegal); d.

before 27 Sept. 1838 near Fergus, Upper Canada.

Whether slaves or free men, blacks in early Upper Canada were obscured in the historical record by the persistence of slavery and by their lack of political clout, small numbers, and illiteracy.

Robert pierpoint

Occasionally the life of an individual is illuminated by an extraordinary event, such as a criminal act [see Jack York*], but for most blacks historical evidence is fragmentary. This is the case for Richard Pierpoint.

Pierpoint’s fascinating odyssey began in West Africa, where about 1760 he “was made a Prisoner and Sold as a Slave.” Shipped to the American colonies, he became the slave of a British officer.

During the American revolution he took the opportunity offered to slaves of enlisting in the British forces and gaining their freedom. Although by 177