POMPEY

Plaque location: 482 Hamburg Rd, Lyme Public Library

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Pompey, a “servant child” of physician Eleazer Mather (1716-1798), was baptized in August 1751 at about age six by Rev. Stephen Johnson (1724-1786) in Lyme’s first parish. Pompey’s origins are not known, but he remained in bondage for another 26 years. Dr. Mather manumitted his “Negro manservant Pompey of the age sd to be thirty-two years” on May 26, 1777, releasing him “from all and every Obligation . . . as a Servant” during his natural life. The emancipation document states that “in this open and Solem Manner,” Pompey became “a Freeman to all Intents and Purposes in Law & Equity giving him the name of Pompey Free.”

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Pomp Free enlisted in Norwich that same day in Connecticut’s 1st Regiment under Capt. Christopher Ely (1743-1817) from Lyme. A day later on May 27, 1777, Prince Free enlisted in the same regiment. The similarity in names and enlistment dates suggests they may have been related, and they both died within a year while serving. Prince Free died in January 1778, and Pomp Free died a month later in February, both in circumstances unknown. The two Black soldiers from Lyme were likely among the 1st Connecticut troops who camped at Valley Forge over that unusually harsh winter amid a scarcity of provisions and clothing and rampant diseases that claimed many lives.

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