![Jude hall grave Winter St cem Exeter NH 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Jude_hall_grave_Winter_St_cem_Exeter_NH_2018.jpg)
Jude (Judas) Hall was an
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
soldier in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. He served from 1775 to 1783, thus earning his freedom from
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. After the war, he married and settled in
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...
, where his homestead is still known as Jude's Pond. Three of his children were kidnapped and sold into slavery, and two of his grandsons fought in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
.
Military service
Jude Hall, of Exeter, New Hampshire, enlisted in May 1775 in the
3rd New Hampshire militia regiment and fought in the Revolutionary War under General
Enoch Poor
Enoch Poor (June 21, 1736 (Old Style) – September 8, 1780) was a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was a ship builder and merchant from Exeter, New Hampshire.
Biography
Poor was born and raised ...
for eight years, earning his freedom from slavery. He was profiled in William C. Nell's book ''Colored Patriots of New Hampshire, with Sketches of Several Distinguished Colored Persons'' in 1855, which states: "He was a great soldier and was known in NH to the day of his death by the name Old Rock." Hall was possibly the most famous New Hampshire African-American patriot.
Timeline
* May 10, 1775: Enlisted as a private in Jacob Hind's Company, 3rd New Hampshire Regiment.
* June 17, 1775: Fought at
Bunker Hill, thrown by nearby cannonball.
* Nov. 1776: Re-enlisted in Clayes' Company,
2nd NH Regiment, for three years.
* 1777–1779: Saw action at
Ticonderoga,
Trenton,
Saratoga, and
Hubbardton. Was ill and recovered in
Albany while his regiment continued on to
Valley Forge
Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. In September 1777, Congress fled Philadelphia to escape the B ...
. Fought at
Battle of Monmouth
The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough, New Jersey on June 28, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. It pitted the Continental Army, co ...
, earning nickname "Rock". Served in the
Sullivan-Clinton Expedition
The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Genocide) was a United States military campaign during the American Revolutionary War, lasting from June to October 1779 ...
against the
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
on the southwestern fringes of
New York state
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
and eventually redeployed to guard the
Hudson Highlands
The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in New York state lying primarily in Putnam County on its east bank and Orange County on its west. They continue somewhat to the south in Westchester County and Rockland County ...
and the string of forts surrounding
West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
.
![Jude Hall signature](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Jude_Hall_signature_.jpg)
*December 1779: Re-enlisted again, serving in Rowell's Company, 2nd New Hampshire.
* 1782–1783: Encamped at New Windsor along with the 1st New Hampshire, forming the New Hampshire Battalion.
* 1783: Discharged and returned to Exeter, NH.
After his eight years of service, he received compensation in October 1786.
Family life
Hall lived his entire life in the Exeter area. "Jude's Pond", located on 70 Drinkwater Road in
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...
, was his homestead as a free man and still bears his name. The location is quite near to the Blake farm (now Yorkfield Stables), where he was possibly born, and was once enslaved with others. The area where Jude raised his family is still quite wooded and lonely, and the two room home no longer stands.
Jude married Rhoda (Paul), sister of Reverend
Thomas Paul, in 1785 and they had a large family on Drinkwater Road. Three of their sons (James, Aaron, and William) were stolen into slavery. His eldest daughter Dorothy married Robert Roberts, butler to Massachusetts Senator
Christopher Gore
Christopher Gore (September 21, 1758 – March 1, 1827) was a prominent Massachusetts lawyer, Federalist politician, and U.S. diplomat. Born into a family divided by the American Revolution, Gore sided with the victorious Patriots, establis ...
and author o
''House Servants Directory''(published in 1827).
Roberts gave affidavit testimony regarding 18-year-old James' abduction in 1819 from his home on Drinkwater Road by an Exeter citizen, (as described in the ''House Servant's Directory'' 2015 edition "introduction xi" by Graham Russell Hodges). Conflicting stories show that Rhoda Hall also sent an affidavit into
The Liberator Newspaper, which was printed on March 8, 1834, saying James sailed on the ship "Wallace" out of Newburyport, MA., under command of Capt. Isaac Stone. and was sold into slavery at the port of Alexandria, VA. Ship manifests show him on the "Ship Superb" sailing from Baltimore to New Orleans on April 6, 1819, to be sold by Hector McClean & Co to Dr. John Towle of Kentucky. Of their sons, only George remained to carry on the family name.
Three of Jude and Rhoda's grandsons, Moses, Aaron and Luke Hall served in the Civil War. Jude and Rhoda's nephew was the Exeter-born abolitionist poet
James Monroe Whitfield
James Monroe Whitfield (c. April 10, 1822 – April 23, 1871) was an African-American poet, abolitionist, and political activist. He was a notable writer and activist in abolitionism and African emigration during the antebellum era. He published th ...
, via Rhoda's sister, Nancy Paul.
In his history of the town of Exeter, published in 1888, Charles Henry Bell penned a memorable description of Jude Hall as "a man of powerful physique...it is said that the parts of his ribs which are usually cartilaginous were of solid bone, so that his vital organs were enclosed in a sort of osseous case." and also "a powerful man who could lift a barrel of cider and drink from it." According to Bell, Hall was the chief witness of the government in the trial of John Blaisdell for the 1822 homicide of another Exeter resident, John Wadleigh. Both were neighbors of Hall.
![Jude Hall at the Powder House by RM Allen 2021](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Jude_Hall_at_the_Powder_House_by_RM_Allen_2021.jpg)
Hall died in 1827, and his actual gravesite is unknown. In 2000, Ed Wall, a descendant of Hall's enslaver erected a memorial stone in his honor in the Winter Street Cemetery in Exeter, in the section where other Black patriots still have stones. Widow Rhoda moved to
Belfast, Maine
Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, Waldo County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city population was 6,938. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River estuary on Belfast Bay (Main ...
, to live with her daughters Rhoda Ann and Mary Jane Cook. Rhoda died February 21, 1844, in Belfast, her obelisk is in the Grove Cemetery.
Recent Acknowledgements
In 2019, the Jude Hall Wikipedia page was created
In 2020, Jude Hall's family story was included as a part of the historical-fiction book "Incident at Exeter Tavern" by RM Allen.
In May 2022 the homesite, currently part of the Phillips Exeter Academy woods, became a registered archeological site.
As of May 2022, Jude Hall has an application in process to become a "NSDAR accepted patriot" in the Daughters of the American Revolution. Once accepted, descendants can claim him in the program.
Genealogical Society
In 2021, the "Jude & Rhoda Hall Society" Facebook page was created, with a downloadable tree.
Descendants and researchers have the ability to interact.
Marker Locations
* Memorial Stone - Winter Street Cemetery, Exeter NH
* Jude's Pond signage - 70 (apprx) Drinkwater Road, Exeter NH
* Memorial Granite Step at the American Independence Museum, Water St., Exeter NH (on Juneteenth 2023)
References
*''House Servant's Directory'' by Robert Roberts, published 1827 by Monroe and Francis of Boston (Jude Hall story in introduction xi by Graham Russell Hodges 2015 edition)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Jude
1827 deaths
New Hampshire militiamen in the American Revolution
Black Patriots
People from Exeter, New Hampshire