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Titus Kent (fl. 1775–1783) was an enslaved man in colonial Suffield, Connecticut who enlisted in the Connecticut militia, serving throughout the American Revolutionary War. His slaveholder was Samuel Kent, from Suffield, Connecticut.

Enslavement

Titus Kent was an enslaved servant to Samuel Kent beginning in 1772, by the time of the Revolutionary War, his slaveholder was Elihu Kent, Sr. Kent lived in Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut, where he was also enslaved by other people.

Military service

Upon hearing of the Lexington Alarm (April 19, 1775), announcing the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Captain Elihu Kent Sr. led 59 men of the local militia to Boston, first stopping at Springfield, Massachusetts. Kent, who enlisted in the militia, served in Elihu's company in the 3rd Connecticut Regiment in the Connecticut Line, commanded by Colonel Samuel Wyllys. Titus served for eight years, most of the time in Long Island, New York.

Suffield volunteers comprised about one-third of the Connecticut militia. Town militia companies contributed to the Connecticut militia regiments. Initially, the Continental Congress discouraged slaves from enlisting in the Continental Army, to appease the slave states. However, the Kingdom of Great Britain offered freedom to slaves who fought on behalf of the British Army, forcing the Continental Congress to relent and offer the same.

Personal life

Kent had a daughter, Hannah Austin. She was from Hartford, Connecticut. She washed laundry to earn the money to raise her four children and care for her disabled husband. Hannah raised money for the local anti-slavery society.

After the war, he applied for a pension or bounty-land warrant. On April 15, 1806, the United States Congress passed an act to provide bounty-land warrants to soldiers of the Revolutionary War. In 1830, an heir of Titus, Jonathan K. Kent, received a warrant on his behalf.

Memorial

In recognition of his military service from 1775 to 1783, a Witness Stone Memorial was installed by the Suffield Historical Society and the Sibbil Dwight Kent Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 2022.

See also

• Titus Gay, who called himself Titus Kent after his father's surname. Titus was an enslaved man until he was freed in 1812. He also lived in Suffield, Connecticut.

Notes

1. There is also a geneaological note: "Titus (colored) BLW #1665-100, CT Line, a Jonathan Kent heir of Elihu Kent made aff'dt 8 Mar 1830 that Elihu Kent was the owner of Titus Kent a slave, a Hannah Austin made aff'dt in 1830 at Suffield CT & gave the following, towit; that her mother became the wife of Samuel Kent, Esq of Suffield CT & that her step-father Samuel Kent owned a slave named Philip who was exchanged for a slave named Titus & after the suid Samuel Kent died he became the slave of Elihu Kent a son of Samuel Kent."

References

1. ^ Greene, Robert Ewell (1984). Black courage, 1775-1783 : documentation of Black participation in the American Revolution. National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. pp. 31, 37, 41, 59, 65, 80. ISBN 978-0-9602528-4-8.
2. ^ "Installation ceremony for Titus Kent Memorial taking place (1st and 2nd columns)". Hartford Courant. 2022-05-19. pp. L2. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
3. ^ "Elihu Kent, Jr. House (1786) - Historic Buildings of Connecticut". historicbuildingsct.com. 2014-06-11. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
4. ^ "Elihu Kent Jr. House — 1787". Buildings of New England. September 22, 2020. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
5. Connecticut Historical Society Collections. Hartford. 1932. pp. 351–352.
6. "Town of Suffield, Connecticut - History". Archived from the original on 2012-04-05.
7. "Understanding the Connecticut Militia". Connecticut Sons of the American Revolution. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
8. "Slavery, the American Revolution, and the Constitution". Digital History, University of Houston. Archived from the original on 2014-02-09.
9. Hine, Darlene Clark; Brown, Elsa Barkley; Patterson, Tiffany R. L.; Williams, Lillian S. (1990). Black Women in United States History. Carlson Publishing Inc. pp. 679, 692. ISBN 978-0-926019-14-0.
10. White, Virgil D. (1990). Genealogical abstracts of Revolutionary War pension files. Waynesboro, Tenn. : National Historical Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-945099-15-4.
11. "Titus Kent (colored)", U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15, Washington, D.C.: National Archives – via ancestry.com
12. "Titus Kent, warrant 1665, Connecticut", U.S. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Warrants Used in the U.S. Military District of Ohio and Relating Papers (Acts of 1788, 1803, and 1806), 1788-1806; Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49, Washington, D.C.: National Archives – via ancestry.com

• 18th-century births
• 18th-century American slaves
• Connecticut militiamen in the American Revolution
• People from Suffield, Connecticut