The Revolutionary World of a Free Black Man: Jacob Francis, 1754-1836

Larry Kidder will present a lecture on his book “The Revolutionary World of a Free Black Man: Jacob Francis, 1754-1836.” Born in Amwell Township to a free Black mother, Jacob Francis lived his 82-year life in a world of revolutionary change. He became caught up in the rising tide of revolution in the 1760s and 70s and served fourteen months in the 16th Continental Army regiment, including at the Battle of Trenton, and then in the Third Hunterdon County militia regiment for over six years. Establishing himself as a farmer, he married an enslaved woman named Mary, freed her and together they raised their nine children in the vicinity of Flemington during a period of rising interest in abolition. The story of Jacob Francis and his family provides an inside view of life in New Jersey in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and the revolutionary changes affecting the lives of both free and enslaved Black people.”. The book puts a spotlight on what may be the most unappreciated moment of a young nation’s revolutionary struggle when George Washington’s army narrowly escaped destruction to keep alive its fight for American independence.​