Primus Babcock (abt.1741-1830) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Pvt. Primus "Prime, Primas" Babcock

Born about 1741 in Hopkinton, Kings, Rhode Island

Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]

[sibling(s) unknown]

[spouse(s) unknown]

Descendants

Father of Primus R. Babcock Jr.

Died 26 Feb 1830 at about age 89 in Connecticut, United States

[uncertain]

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Profile last modified 16 Dec 2023 | Created 16 Sep 2018

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1 Biography
2 Sources

Biography

This profile is part of the Babcock Name Study.

Pvt. Primus Babcock served with 1st Rhode Island Regiment, Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Primus Babcock is a part of US Black heritage.

Honorably Discharged by George Washington

I cannot refrain from mentioning one aged black man, Primus Babcock, who proudly presented to me an honorable discharge from service during the war, dated at the close of it, wholly in the handwriting of George Washington. Nor can I forget the expressions of his feelings, when informed, after his discharge had been sent to the War Department, that it could not be returned. At his request it was written for, as he seemed inclined to spurn the pension and reclaim the discharge.

-Hon. Calvin Goddard

From Slave to Soldier to Free Man

Primus Babcock had been a slave, but he gained his freedom by fighting in the War of the Revolution in the Rhode Island 1st Regiment. This regiment, sometimes called the Black regiment, but included Black, colored, and Indian slaves who were earning their freedom and also White officers. A thorough account of their assignments and daily life can be read in chapter 3 of Judith L. Van Buskirk's "Standing in Their Own Light: African American Patriots in the American Revolution^[1] Their critical holding of the line against the raging Hessians during the Battle of Rhode Island is described in detail by the Rhode island Society of Sons of the American Revolution. ^[2] ^[3]

Slaves' owners were recompensed a fair price for each of them. While Samuel Babcock Primus's owner from Hopkinton, originally opposed the legislature's plan to recruit slaves, he eventually was paid the full rate of 120 pounds when Primus enlisted. ^[4]The full rate indicates that Primus was strong and healthy. Primus's DAR profle suggest he was 34 at this time. ^[5] From abstracts of Hopkinton Wills posted by the Hopkinton Historical Association, it appears that Samuel Babcock had inherited Primus in 1767 after the death of his father, George Babcock. (BABCOCK, George – PR 1:102 Will written, 19 January 1767, Proved 22 October 1767. Inventory: PR 1:109)

Primus fought in many battles and is listed as a Valley Forge Participant.

US Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers

Primus Babcock and many other Black and Indian soldiers were still in the service as late as 1781. ^[6]

Soon after the War ended, a few of the slave "owners" made an effort to get their boys back, but the courts did not agree, and within a few decades slavery was phased out in Rhode Island. Slavery had been a key part of some sectors of the Rhode Island economy, providing labor for the plantations of the Narragansett and the maritime industries. A lucrative slave trading industry had driven the economy around Newport.

Family life

After his War service, Primus returned to Rhode Island. His son Primus Babcock Jr. was born in 1789 at Charleston. Father Primus was in the 1790 Census at Charleston^[7] as the head of a household with 5 people in the "other free people" category , meaning non-white, but free. By 1800 he appears to be in Hopkintown^[8] with a family of six.

Later Primus moved to Connecticut at or near Preston, and finished raising a large family with his wife whose name was thought to be Henrietta. One source suggest he was granted a 100 Acres Army bounty, but in his pension application it appears that someone else fraudulently claimed land in Primus's name. The DAR report on "Forgotten Patriots" lists his trade as cobbler. Many years after the war he was granted the pension that he and other soldiers of color had been promised, but only after a legal fight. ^[9]

1774 Colonial Census

While the vast majority of Rhode Islanders, including Babcocks, did not own slaves, and many for religious reasons worked to abolish slavery, there is evidence that some of the very wealthiest of the Westerly area Babcocks did have Black and Indian slaves. Primus Babcock seems to be the only slave mentioned in "The Babcock Genealogy" that has both a first and last name. There are two other mentions of an enslaved "negro man" called Primus in that genealogy, but both refer to a man too old to be this Primus, though possibly could be his father.

1774 Colonial Census at Westerly ^[10] where many Babcocks lived (Hopkinton Records missing)] at Westerly shows a number of unnamed Indians as part of the Westerly households. Their status, whether slaves, indentured, or farm hands is not clear. This Census shows Samuel Babcock owning 4 slaves, one of whom would be Primus of this profile. Samuel's brother Hezekiah owned 11 slaves, also inherited from his father George who had been a Narragansett Planter. ^[11]One of Hezekiah's slaves was Caesar Babcock who shares much in common with Primus and may be his brother.

Nineteen Over-due Pensions for Soldiers of Color

Honorable Calvin Goddard, who assisted with the granting of 19 over-due pensions to soldiers of color, recounted a much repeated tale about the emotional attachment that Primus Babcock had to his special honorable discharge handwritten on June 15 1783 by George Washington himself. What might a paper like that have meant to any soldier that faced the Valley Forge winter with the General, much less to one of the 700 or so soldiers of color who were there? What the Honorable Discharge paper meant to the government was that Primus Babcock later in life qualified for a pension. Cesaer Babcock, also a soldier of color from the Westerly area had no such luck, being unable to verify his service, so he received nothing.

"Of color" could mean of Native American or African descent. Primus's own son, Primus Jr., is described in a later analysis of Talcott Street church records as being likely Narragansett and Black. In Censuses, the father Primus shows up as a Free Person of Color. In the war rolls, often there is no notation of the race of each soldier. But you will find that Primus is a name often associated with slavery as are names like Prince, Plato, Cato, Cuff, and Cesaer.

Goddard had known Primus before assisting him in gaining the pension. Goddard wrote that Primus had done some work for him over the years. This very same Honorable Calvin Goddard was one of Prudence Crandall's lawyers during the extended racial controversy over Prudence opening a school in Connecticut to educate girls of color.

Primus Babcock lived to be about 90, and is thought to have been buried in Connecticut, probably in the Preston area. From tracing the children of his son Primus Jr., a large number of his descendants lived in Hartford, Connecticut. His descendants fought in the Civil War and the World Wars.

Badge for serving duration of war?

In the dissertation FREEBORN MEN OF COLOR: THE FRANCK BROTHERS IN REVOLUTIONARY NORTH AMERICA, 1755-1820 ^[12] author Shirley Green discusses the emergence of racial segregation in Colonial fighting units starting with the Valley Forge policies given that there freed black (like the Franck Brother), enslaved blacks (like Primus), and free whites were all co-participants.

In the chapter entitled "INTEGRATING FREE AND SLAVE—THE CREATION OF RHODE ISLAND’S REVOLUTIONARY “BLACK REGIMENT” A new fact about Primus Babcock is mentioned:

Prime Babcock, London Hall and Pero Morey served for the duration of the war and each received one honorary badge during their tenure. (footnoted as item 45)

The footnote for this assertion reads:

45 “Camp Verplank’s Point 23 Sept 1782 At a board of officers convened…Rhode Island Regiment to inspect the Company returns of Said regiment to determine…are entitled to Honorary Badges agreeable to General Orders,” RISA; Regimental Book, RISA; “Register of Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates in the 5th Company Rhode Island Battalion, inlisted for the War, and furloughed on the General Order of the 22nd of June 1783,” RISA.

An Overdue Gold Congressional Medal for the Black Regiment

Since 2015, a bill has been sitting proposed in Congress to issue a collective Gold Medal of Honor acknowledging Rhode Island's 1st Regiment. Just as the soldier's pensions were quite late coming in their own lives, this Gold Medal apparently may take a very long time.

The text of the Bill concisely explains the unusual historic circumstances and contribution of the Rhode Island 1st Regiment and can be read at this link:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr3123/text

The Bill's progress, or lack thereof, can be tracked at this link:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr3123

Primus Babcock is mentioned by name in the Bill, and the 1st Regiment's Congressional Medal of Honor would be on display at the Smithsonian if this Bill ever gets passed. In the meantime both New York and Portsmouth Rhode Island have memorials honoring the 1st Regiment. ^[13] ^[14]

Note: Pension #: S 37,698 Additional names associated with pension issue: C Goddard, Calvin Goddard, Charles Lathrop, Chas B Goddard, George Boyd, Green, Humphrey Thompson, Lewis, Lyman Law, Olney, Prime Babcock, Primus, Primus Babcock, Primus Babcocks, Sherman, Washington, Brown, Calvin Goddard, Fermer Wills, Law, Lyman, Prime Babcock, Primus Babcock, Prince Champlin, Sherman

Note: An older/earlier Primus (mulatto) married to the Widow Hannah Toby (Indian) on March 3, 1744 at South Kingston by Dr. Joseph Torrey. Possible father? ^[15]