Peter Salem (October 1, 1750 – August 16, 1816)BlackPast.org
"Salem, Peter" was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

from Massachusetts who served as a U.S. 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 ...

. Born into slavery in

Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...

, he was freed by a later master, Major Lawson Buckminster, to serve in the local militia. He then enlisted in the Continental Army, serving for nearly five years during the war. Afterwards, he married and worked as a cane weaver. A monument was erected to him in the late 19th century at his grave in Framingham.

Early life

Peter Salem was born on October 1, 1750, to an enslaved mother in

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

.Smithsonian NMAAHC
/ref> His enslaver was Jeremiah Belknap,American National Biography
"Salem, Peter" who later sold him to Major Lawson Buckminster. When Buckminster became a major in the Continental Army, he emancipated Salem in 1775 so he could enlist in the Massachusetts militia in what soon became the Revolutionary War. Salem's last name may have been given to him by his original enslaver Belknap, who may have chosen the name after

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

, where he once lived. His last name may also be derived from the Arabic word " salaam", meaning ''peace''.

Military service

Salem took part in the war's first battles at Concord on April 19, 1775. He is on the roll of Captain Simon Edgell's militia company from Framingham as having served four days from April 19, 1775. On April 24, he enlisted in Captain Drury's company of Colonel John Nixon's 6th Massachusetts Regiment.

Battle of Bunker Hill

Salem, another hero of this event, fought with his company in the Battle of Bunker Hill. According to Samuel Swett, who chronicled the battle, Salem had mortally wounded Royal Marines officer John Pitcairn who died from a musket shot. This has been disputed. About a dozen other free African Americans took part in the battle, including Phillip Abbot of Andover Mass, Barzillai Lew,

Salem Poor Salem Poor (1747–1802) was an enslaved African-American man who purchased his freedom in 1769, became a soldier in 1775, and rose to fame as a war hero during the American Revolutionary War, particularly in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Early lif ...

, Titus Coburn, Alexander Ames, Cato Howe, and Seymour Burr. Salem reenlisted for another year in the 4th Continental Regiment on January 1, 1776. When that enlistment expired, he signed up for three years in the 6th Massachusetts Regiment of Colonel Thomas Nixon, a brother of Colonel John Nixon. He was honorably discharged on December 31, 1779, having served a total of four years and eight months.''Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War.'' Vol. 13, pp. 743–744. Salem apparently extended his enlistment for two months and served with Captain Claye's Company of Colonel Nixon's Regiment from January 1 to March 1, 1780. Salem fought at the battles of Saratoga and Stony Point.Sidney and Emma Nogrady Kaplan, ''The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution'', Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1989 revised edition.

Later life and death

Salem spent the rest of his life living peacefully. He married Katy Benson in

in September 1783, and he later built a cabin near Leicester, where he worked as a cane weaver. Peter Salem died on August 16, 1816, aged 65. He was buried in the Old Burying Ground in Framingham, and the town spent $150 to erect a monument in his memory in 1882.

Media portrayals

At one time Salem was thought to have been depicted in John Trumbull's painting '' The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775.'' Modern authorities differ. David Barton identifies Salem standing to Thomas Grosvenor's right. Professor David Brion Davis, citing evidence from Professor Sidney Kaplan, states that the African American to Thomas Grosvenor's right "was Peter Salem". Peter Salem is one of the supporting characters in the 2015 television miniseries ''

Sons of Liberty The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It pl ...

.'' He is played by British actor

Jimmy Akingbola James Olatokunbo Akingbola (born 7 April 1978) is an English television, theatre and film actor. Early life Jimmy Akingbola was born in London to parents of the Yoruba tribe who had emigrated from Nigeria. In 1996, Akingbola started at the ...

.IMDb
"Sons of Liberty: The Uprising"

References

Sources

''Celebrate Boston'' website, article about role in Battle of Bunker Hill
"Peter Salem"
African American Registry

''Boston 1775'' blog

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salem, Peter 1750 births 1816 deaths 18th-century American slaves People from Leicester, Massachusetts People from Framingham, Massachusetts African-American history of Massachusetts Black Patriots Free people of color