Agrippa Hull: The Black Revolutionary War Soldier Who Served Six Years for Independence

His Story

In the summer of 1783, as the American Revolution drew to a close, a young Massachusetts soldier named Agrippa Hull received a document that he would treasure for the rest of his life. It was his honorable discharge from the Continental Army, dated July 24, 1783, and bearing the signature of General George Washington.

Hull had entered the army in 1777 at approximately eighteen years old. More than six years later, he had served through some of the Revolution’s most consequential campaigns, witnessed the surrender of a British army at Saratoga, endured the hardships associated with Valley Forge, and accompanied American officers across hundreds of miles of wartime territory.

But Agrippa Hull’s story was extraordinary for reasons extending beyond his military service.

He was a free Black American who fought for independence in a country where slavery remained a central contradiction of the revolutionary promise of liberty. During the war, he served as an orderly to General John Paterson and later to Tadeusz Kościuszko, the Polish military engineer whose contributions to the American cause became legendary.

After the Revolution, Hull returned to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. There, he built a life that challenged the social expectations of his era. He became a farmer, landowner, businessman, and respected member of his community, eventually accumulating property worth more than that held by many of his white neighbors.

His life connected him to some of the most remarkable figures of early American history, including George Washington, Kościuszko, the Sedgwick family, and Elizabeth Freeman, whose successful legal challenge to slavery helped transform Massachusetts.

Yet Hull’s importance rests not simply in the famous people he knew. His story reveals how one Black Patriot participated in the founding struggle of the United States and then worked to establish his own place within the nation that emerged.

Perhaps nothing better captures his attachment to the Revolution than the discharge certificate he refused to surrender, even when doing so might have helped secure his pension. More than forty years after leaving the army, the document remained a cherished reminder of the service he had performed and the commander who had recognized it.

Early Life and Family

Agrippa Hull was born free in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1759, the son of Amos and Bathsheba Hull. Historical research published by the Battle of Rhode Island Association, drawing on Stockbridge archival scholarship, gives his birth date as May 13, 1759. Some other biographical accounts report a different date, making the precise day a point for further genealogical verification.

His parents were free Black landowners, an important distinction in colonial Massachusetts, where slavery and racial discrimination continued to shape society.

In 1761, when Agrippa was still a young child, his father died. The loss placed the family in a difficult financial position. Over time, the Hull family lost title to its land, a setback that would have lasting consequences.

Agrippa’s mother eventually arranged for him to live in Stockbridge with Joab Benny, also spelled Binney, a free Black man whom she knew through their connection to the congregation of the Reverend Jonathan Edwards in Northampton.

Agrippa was approximately seven years old when he went to Stockbridge.

Joab Benny worked as a tanner and had acquired substantial property in the community. By the late 1760s, he had purchased more than fifty acres of land.

For a child whose family had suffered the loss of its property, the opportunity to grow up in a household with greater economic stability may have been significant.

Stockbridge was a community with a complex history. It had developed in connection with missionary activity among the Mahican people and included Indigenous residents, white settlers, and free Black families.

Agrippa spent his youth in this environment as tensions between Great Britain and its American colonies intensified.

By 1775, the fighting at Lexington and Concord had begun a war whose outcome was uncertain. Two years later, Hull made the decision to enlist.

Enlisting in the Revolution

In May 1777, Agrippa Hull enlisted in the Continental Army at Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

His military records associate his enlistment with Captain John Chadwick’s company, Colonel Samuel Brewer’s regiment, and the Massachusetts Line.

Hull committed himself to service for the duration of the war, an undertaking that ultimately kept him in the army for more than six years.

Black Americans served the revolutionary cause in numerous capacities. Some were enslaved men seeking freedom, while others, like Hull, had been born free. They served in combat units, performed essential military labor, transported supplies, carried messages, and assisted officers.

Hull’s assignment placed him in close association with senior military commanders. He initially served as an orderly, sometimes described in contemporary records as a “waiter,” to General John Paterson.

An orderly performed practical duties essential to an officer’s daily work. These could include delivering messages, assisting with equipment, arranging travel, and supporting military operations.

Although such duties differed from those of an infantryman serving continuously in the battle line, they were part of the functioning of the Continental Army.

Hull retained the rank of private throughout his military service.

Saratoga and Valley Forge

Hull’s first year in the Continental Army coincided with one of the decisive periods of the American Revolution.

In 1777, British General John Burgoyne advanced southward from Canada in an effort to divide the rebellious colonies and gain control of the Hudson River corridor.

American forces resisted the invasion in a campaign culminating in Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga, New York, on October 17, 1777.

Historical accounts place Agrippa Hull with the American army during the Saratoga campaign and at the surrender.

The victory carried consequences far beyond the battlefield. It helped persuade France that the American rebellion had a realistic prospect of success, contributing to the formal Franco-American alliance of 1778.

Later in 1777, Hull was associated with the Continental Army during its winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

The army endured severe shortages of clothing, food, and other supplies. Disease, exposure, and the difficulties of maintaining a military force through winter placed enormous pressure on Washington’s command.

The men who remained with the army during these months participated in an experience that became central to the memory of the Revolution.

Hull also served during the period of the 1778 Monmouth campaign in New Jersey.

These experiences brought the young Massachusetts soldier into contact with the major northern operations of the Continental Army before his service took him farther south.

Serving Tadeusz Kościuszko

One of the most significant developments in Hull’s military career was his assignment to Tadeusz Kościuszko, the Polish engineer who had joined the American Revolution.

Kościuszko possessed technical knowledge that was particularly valuable to an army frequently operating with limited resources. His work involved the construction of fortifications, evaluation of terrain, and planning of military defenses.

He contributed to American preparations during the Saratoga campaign and later became closely associated with the defenses of West Point.

Hull began serving Kościuszko as an orderly around 1779, according to historical accounts.

Their association continued for several years and carried Hull into the Southern Campaign.

The two men developed a relationship remembered in later histories as unusually close. Kościuszko was a European officer who had crossed the Atlantic to support American independence. Hull was a free Black soldier whose own life reflected the racial inequalities that continued within American society.

Kościuszko later became known for his opposition to slavery. Historians have examined the possibility that his experiences with Hull helped deepen his understanding of the condition of Black Americans.

Their relationship offers a striking example of the personal connections created by the Revolution, bringing together men of different nationalities and backgrounds through a common military undertaking.

After the war, Kościuszko reportedly invited Hull to accompany him to Poland. Hull instead chose to return to Massachusetts.

Their friendship remained part of Hull’s historical story, and accounts indicate that they met again during Kościuszko’s later visit to the United States.

The Southern Campaign

As the Revolutionary War entered its later years, British military operations shifted increasingly toward the Southern colonies.

British commanders hoped to restore royal authority in Georgia and the Carolinas by combining regular military operations with support from American Loyalists.

The fighting became bitter and destructive. Armies moved across the countryside, local communities divided, and military success often depended on supply lines, engineering, and the ability to hold fortified positions.

Hull accompanied Kościuszko during assignments connected with these Southern operations.

Historical accounts place Hull with Kościuszko during the campaign surrounding the Siege of Ninety Six in South Carolina in 1781.

Ninety Six was a fortified British position. American forces under General Nathanael Greene attempted to capture it between May and June 1781.

Kościuszko directed engineering work associated with the siege, which required the construction of trenches and other approaches toward the British defenses.

The operation was demanding and dangerous. Despite American efforts, the siege ended with Greene’s withdrawal as British reinforcements approached.

Hull’s service as Kościuszko’s orderly placed him in the military environment surrounding this operation.

Historical research also associates Hull with the campaign that included the Battle of Eutaw Springs, fought in South Carolina on September 8, 1781.

The battle was one of the last major engagements in the Southern theater and contributed to the continuing erosion of British control in the Carolinas.

Although surviving accounts do not establish every individual task Hull performed during these campaigns, his association with Kościuszko places him within a series of operations extending far beyond his Massachusetts home.

By the time the war ended, Hull had experienced military life in both the northern and southern theaters of the Revolution.

Washington’s Signature: A Document Worth Keeping

On July 24, 1783, Agrippa Hull received his honorable discharge from the Continental Army at West Point, New York.

The certificate carried the signature of General George Washington.

For Hull, who had entered the army in 1777, it marked the end of more than six years of service.

The discharge became one of his most valued possessions.

In 1818, when Hull sought a federal pension, his original discharge could have provided documentary evidence of his military service. But he was reluctant to part with it.

A decade later, Charles Sedgwick wrote on Hull’s behalf, explaining that the veteran placed such importance on the Washington-signed certificate that he would rather sacrifice the pension than risk losing the document.

The request was successful, according to the historical account published by the Battle of Rhode Island Association. Hull received his pension while retaining his discharge.

The document’s story continued long after Hull’s death.

At some point, the original certificate passed out of the family’s possession. Its movements during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries remain unclear.

In early 2024, the Stockbridge Library Museum & Archives acquired Hull’s original discharge through a private sale.

The certificate returned to the community where Hull had lived for much of his life, joining other surviving objects associated with him.

Its return provided an important addition to the historical record of a Black Revolutionary War soldier whose service had once connected him directly to Washington’s army.

From His Account

Military Service

Selected Military Timeline

A New Life in Stockbridge

Following his discharge in 1783, Agrippa Hull returned to Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

For many Revolutionary War veterans, the transition to civilian life brought uncertainty. Years of military service had interrupted careers and family relationships, while the new nation struggled with debt and economic instability.

Hull initially found employment as a laborer and later performed a variety of jobs within the community.

He worked in the household of Theodore Sedgwick, a prominent Massachusetts lawyer and politician who became closely associated with Stockbridge.

The Sedgwick household was also connected to Elizabeth Freeman, widely known as Mumbet, whose successful legal challenge to enslavement in 1781 helped establish that slavery was incompatible with the Massachusetts Constitution.

Hull’s association with the Sedgwicks and Freeman placed him within a community where questions of freedom, law, race, and citizenship were not merely abstract political ideas.

They were matters that had shaped the lives of people he knew.

Hull became known for his sociability, humor, and ability to move comfortably among different circles of Stockbridge society.

He worked as a valet and butler, took in boarders, cared for horses, and performed work for the town.

Rather than relying upon a single occupation, he developed several sources of income and gradually improved his economic position.

His experiences reflected a broader reality of life in the early republic: independence had been achieved politically, but individual economic security still had to be built through labor, property, and personal relationships.

Landowner, Entrepreneur, and Community Figure

One of the most remarkable aspects of Agrippa Hull’s postwar life was his success in acquiring land.

In 1785, only two years after leaving the Continental Army, Hull purchased approximately half an acre on what is now Goodrich Street in Stockbridge.

It was the beginning of a long period of property transactions.

Over the following decades, Hull bought, sold, and mortgaged land, steadily increasing his holdings.

By 1829, historical research identifies his assessed property at $1,213, including approximately eighty-five acres of land.

His holdings included a house, boarding house, barn, two horses, two cows, two sheep, and several pigs.

The value of his property placed him above roughly two-thirds of Stockbridge’s white residents in assessed wealth, according to research cited by the Battle of Rhode Island Association.

This was a significant achievement for a Black American in the early nineteenth century, particularly in a society where racial discrimination continued to restrict economic and social opportunities.

Hull’s success was not limited to agriculture.

He and his second wife, Margaret “Peggy” Timbrook, operated a catering business.

Peggy became especially well known for her baking, including gingerbread and wedding cakes. She also brewed root beer, while Agrippa helped manage the business arrangements.

Together, they provided food and refreshments for community events.

A surviving bill from an event Hull organized in 1799 illustrates his ability to arrange the practical details of a social gathering, including the room, lighting, refreshments, and entertainment.

His work demonstrates that Hull was more than a retired soldier who had settled into quiet agricultural life.

He was an active participant in Stockbridge’s economic and social affairs, combining farming, property ownership, hospitality, and business management.

For a man whose childhood had been marked by the loss of his family’s property, the accumulation of land may have carried particular meaning. Whether that early experience directly motivated his later investments cannot be established, but the contrast between the two periods of his life is striking.

Later Life and Burial

As Agrippa Hull grew older, he remained a recognizable figure in Stockbridge.

He had lived through the American Revolution, the adoption of the United States Constitution, the presidencies of the early republic, and the transformation of Massachusetts during the first half of the nineteenth century.

He also lived long enough to see the development of photography.

In March 1844, Hull visited the studio of photographer Anson Clark in West Stockbridge to have a daguerreotype taken.

Clark’s surviving studio log records that Hull was accompanied by Colonel Dwight, who agreed to pay for the sitting.

The daguerreotype is particularly important because it preserves an authenticated likeness of a man who had served in the Revolutionary War more than sixty years earlier.

An oil portrait based on the daguerreotype was later produced. That painting eventually entered the collection of the Stockbridge Library Museum & Archives.

Agrippa Hull died in Stockbridge on May 21, 1848, at approximately eighty-nine years of age.

He was buried in Stockbridge Cemetery, where his grave connects the history of the American Revolution with the local history of the community in which he spent most of his life.

Family and Descendants

Parents: Amos and Bathsheba Hull

Agrippa Hull was born to Amos and Bathsheba Hull, free Black residents of Northampton, Massachusetts.

The family owned land before the death of Amos Hull in 1761.

Financial difficulties followed, and Bathsheba eventually arranged for Agrippa to live with Joab Benny in Stockbridge.

This early separation from his mother’s household formed an important part of his childhood.

First Wife: Jane Darby

Agrippa Hull married Jane Darby, whose surname also appears as Darbe in historical accounts.

Jane had experienced enslavement and was later able to secure her freedom.

Her experience connected Hull’s family directly to the continuing struggle over slavery and personal liberty in Massachusetts.

Research published by the Battle of Rhode Island Association dates their marriage to 1795.

Some other accounts give an earlier date, so the precise marriage year should be checked against contemporary records.

Jane died before Hull’s second marriage in 1813.

Second Wife: Margaret “Peggy” Timbrook

In 1813, Hull married Margaret Timbrook, also known as Peggy.

The couple became partners in both domestic and business life.

Peggy’s reputation as a baker was well established in Stockbridge. Her gingerbread and wedding cakes became particularly associated with the couple’s catering work.

Agrippa handled many of the business arrangements, while Peggy prepared food and beverages for customers.

Their combined efforts helped establish a successful household enterprise.

Margaret survived Agrippa, living until 1879 according to historical accounts.

Children and Descendants

Genealogical and local historical accounts associate Hull with children and family members including Asaph, Charlotte, and James.

Historical accounts also identify Mary Tilden as a girl taken into the Hull household and remembered as an adopted daughter.

The surviving secondary accounts do not always agree on the details of these family relationships, and further examination of contemporary records would be valuable.

Hull’s descendants and family connections have continued to attract the attention of historians and genealogists interested in the lives of free Black families in early Massachusetts.

The return of his military discharge to Stockbridge in 2024 also renewed attention to the Hull family and its place in the community’s historical memory.

Historical Legacy

Agrippa Hull’s life cannot be understood solely through the battles and military campaigns of the American Revolution.

His service was important, but his postwar achievements were equally revealing.

He was born free in colonial Massachusetts, lost his father during childhood, and grew up in another household after his family’s financial circumstances deteriorated.

At eighteen, he joined the Continental Army and remained in service for more than six years.

He served alongside important military leaders and witnessed events that shaped the independence of the United States.

Then he returned to Massachusetts and built a life through work, business, and property ownership.

By the early nineteenth century, Hull had become a substantial landowner and a familiar figure in Stockbridge society.

His story complicates any simple picture of the Revolutionary generation.

The struggle for independence involved not only famous generals and political leaders, but also free and enslaved Black Americans whose contributions were essential to the war effort.

Hull’s experience also illustrates the limits of the Revolution’s promises. Political independence did not eliminate racial prejudice or establish equal opportunity throughout the new republic.

Yet Hull was able to exercise a degree of personal and economic independence that distinguished his life and made his achievements particularly notable.

His surviving discharge certificate, pension documents, family history, and late-life portrait preserve the record of a man who lived through the founding of the United States and helped sustain the communities that followed.

The return of his Washington-signed discharge to Stockbridge in 2024 brought one of the most important documents of his life back to the place he had called home.

More than two centuries after he enlisted, Agrippa Hull remains an important example of the Black Patriots whose military service and civilian lives deserve a permanent place in the history of the American Revolution.

Original Sources and Historical Note

1. Battle of Rhode Island Association — Agrippa Hull: A Revolutionary Story. Talya Leodari’s historical article examines Hull’s military discharge, family background, service with Kościuszko, business activities, landownership, and surviving archival materials. The article was originally published by the Journal of the American Revolution.
   Read historical research
2. BlackPast — Agrippa Hull, Revolutionary Patriot. Additional biographical research on Hull’s place in African American and Revolutionary War history.
   View BlackPast biography
3. Find a Grave — Agrippa Hull. Memorial number 48417564. Burial and genealogical reference for Hull.
   View memorial
4. National Archives — Revolutionary War Pension File W.760. National Archives Identifier 300022. Pension documentation relating to Hull’s military service, including his 1818 declaration and subsequent correspondence.
5. Stockbridge Library Museum & Archives — Agrippa Hull Military Discharge. Original discharge certificate dated July 24, 1783, signed by George Washington and acquired by the museum in 2024.
   View museum announcement
6. Stockbridge Library Museum & Archives — Personal Papers and Pension Records. Archival materials relating to Hull’s Revolutionary War service and later life.
   View archival collection
7. National Park Service — Agrippa Hull. Historical biography covering Hull’s military service and his significance in the history of African American Patriots.
   Read National Park Service biography
8. National Park Service — African American Patriots at the Siege of Ninety Six. Research on Black military participants in the Southern Campaign.
   Read campaign history
9. Historic Northampton — Expanded Biographies. Local historical research concerning free and enslaved Black residents of western Massachusetts.
   View biographical research
10. Stockbridge Library Museum & Archives — Stockbridge Cemetery Tour. Local history and burial information relating to Agrippa Hull.
    View cemetery history
11. Emilie S. Piper — The Family of Agrippa Hull. Berkshire Genealogist, volume 22, number 1 (2001). Genealogical research cited in the Battle of Rhode Island Association’s historical account.
12. Emilie Piper and David Levinson — One Minute a Free Woman: Elizabeth Freeman and the Struggle for Freedom. Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, 2010. Research on Elizabeth Freeman and the African American community of Stockbridge, including Hull’s occupations and property.
13. Gary B. Nash, Graham Russell Gao Hodges, and Alex Storozynski — Friends of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson, Tadeusz Kościuszko, and Agrippa Hull. Basic Books, 2008. Scholarly treatment of Hull’s relationship with Kościuszko and the broader struggle over freedom and slavery in the early United States.