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The number who were Black can only be guessed at. Some were freeborn, others had escaped slavery from the United States, but a number were slaves. Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe’s 1793 Act prevented the further importation of slaves into Upper Canada, but did not free those who were enslaved. Among the province’s slave-owners was Robert Gray, the solicitor general. His household at York included his manservant, Simon Baker, Simon’s brother John, and two Black female servants. In 1804 Gray and Simon both perished when the Speedy, a ship on which they were travelling, was lost in a storm on Lake Ontario. Under Gray’s will, all his slaves were freed. During the War of 1812 John Baker left York and served with the 104th New Brunswick Regiment. He later returned to Upper Canada to live in Cornwall where he died in his nineties. William Jarvis, the provincial secretary and registrar, also owned slaves. In March 1811 he charged two of them, a boy named Henry, commonly called Prince, and a girl, with stealing valuables from his desk. A free Black, one “Coakley,” was arraigned for advising and aiding them.The Court remanded the boy to jail for sentencing and ordered the girl returned to her master. “Coakley” was discharged. By fall, 1812, Prince Henry and Daniel Cokely were privates in the all-Black militia unit mustered at Niagara. Britain’s war with the United States carried a much more sinister meaning for Upper Canada’s Blacks than for others. An American victory might reduce many to the legal status of chattel, a piece of property that could be used, abused, and sold at the whim of an owner. A number of African-Canadians joined their local militia companies. Generally such units were integrated, but Richard Pierpoint, a 68-year-old African veteran of the Revolutionary War, proposed the raising of an all-Black militia unit in Niagara. Pierpoint joined the Coloured Corps, as it became known, as a private. William Thompson, a sergeant in the Coloured Corps, recalled that he and thirteen men transferred there from the 3rd
Ivor Christopher is probably the only re-enactor who has interpreted the Coloured Corps. It is not known what uniforms the Corps were issued, if any, during the War of 1812. Those who want more information about this re info@fortyork.ca. enactment or about Richard Pierpoint can inquire through Credit: Laynna Meyler York Militia in time to fight at Queenston Heights, bringing the unit critical strength.The new recruits included the brothers John, Richard, and Stephen Kaul [Coll, Call] who had served formerly in Capt. Duncan Cameron’s Company. Another member of the Corps was Robert Scott who owned a house on Hospital (now Richmond) Street, York. The dangers of war were on his mind as he prepared his will, “taking into consideration the uncertainty of life the more especially as I now am about to embark for Niagara as a volunteer to defend my King.” When he died from disease in January 1813 he left his estate to Sarah Long and her son David. Sarah and her husband Peter had been among York’s first Black settlers. A few weeks
after Scott’s demise, his townsman and comrade in arms, John Jackson, also succumbed in hospital leaving a widow, Margaret. The history of the Coloured Corps is fairly sketchy. It was mentioned as fighting alongside John Norton’s Six Nations warriors at Queenston Heights. In March of 1813, it formed part of the force that battled the Americans at Fort George “at a distance of six to ten yards”with “destructive and rapid fire.”A report lists two killed in action and, absurdly, that two members of the Corps had deserted to the enemy. It is much more likely that they were taken as booty by American soldiers.
it seems to have been the fashion to heap all kinds of duties upon the latter.” Black soldiers were given some of the most dirty and dangerous jobs, their military role reflecting their contemporary place in society. But they persevered and most survived the war. Even the old warrior Richard Pierpoint lived long enough to receive a military land grant, as did several other York men: Daniel Cokely, Samuel Edmunds, John and Richard Call. The veterans lived out their lives quietly, getting married, raising families, and passing away.
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