Private Caesar Ferrit*
Caesar Ferrit was likely born enslaved on a Caribbean island in 1720. Later as a freeman living in Massachusetts, Ferrit became a yeoman farmer, Natick resident and veteran of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. On April 19, 1775, Private Caesar Ferrit responded to the Lexington Alarm as a member of Captain Joseph Morse’s Company.
Caesar Ferrit and his son John Ferrit fired upon the British regulars as they marched back towards Boston after the battle at the North Bridge in Concord. They are the only Afro-Indigenous soldiers known to have fired on the British regulars on April 19, 1775. According to witness accounts recorded in 1830:
Caesar Ferrit and his son John arrived at a house near Lexington meeting house, but a short time before the British soldiers reached that place, on their retreat from Concord. These two discharged their muskets upon the regulars from the entry, and secreted themselves under the cellar stairs, till the enemy had passed by, though a considerable number of them entered the house and made a diligent search for their annoyers.
Caesar Ferrit was one of three Black and Indigenous soldiers known to have fought on April 19, 1775. The others two are his sons, John and Thomas. Later in his late Ferrit was recorded as having said that he had the "blood of four nations in his veins” from his African and Indigenous Caribbean grandmothers and his Dutch and French grandfathers.
Caesar Ferrit married Naomi Ferrit in _______ . Caesar and Naomi Ferrit were free when they were married. Therefore, their children were born free.
Like many freemen of Massachusetts, Private Ferrit continued to fight with colonial forces on an intermittent basis from 1775 to 1781. All of the soldiers were paid according to their rank regardless of their status (ie. free, indentured, enslaved or apprenticed) at the time of enlistment. He died in Natick on May 23, 1799. His name is memorialized on a tablet at the Indian Burial Ground on Pond Street in Natick.
Caesar Ferrit was likely born enslaved on a Caribbean island in 1720. Later as a freeman living in Massachusetts, Ferrit became a yeoman farmer, Natick resident and veteran of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. On April 19, 1775, Private Caesar Ferrit responded to the Lexington Alarm as a member of Captain Joseph Morse’s Company.
Caesar Ferrit and his son John Ferrit fired upon the British regulars as they marched back towards Boston after the battle at the North Bridge in Concord. They are the only Afro-Indigenous soldiers known to have fired on the British regulars on April 19, 1775. According to witness accounts recorded in 1830:
Caesar Ferrit and his son John arrived at a house near Lexington meeting house, but a short time before the British soldiers reached that place, on their retreat from Concord. These two discharged their muskets upon the regulars from the entry, and secreted themselves under the cellar stairs, till the enemy had passed by, though a considerable number of them entered the house and made a diligent search for their annoyers.
Private Caesar Ferrit was one of three Afro-Indigenous soldiers known to have fought on April 19, 1775. The other two Afro-Indigenous soldiers are his sons John and Thomas. Caesar Ferrit was not a member of one of the New England-area tribes that chose to ally with colonial forces. His Indigenous ancestry came from one of his grandmother who may have been a descendant of the Pequots who were sold as slaves in the West Indies in the 1630s. His African ancestry came from his other grandmother. Caesar Ferrit’s grandfathers were Dutch and French. Caesar Ferrit was proud of his multicultural heritage and noted that he had the "blood of four nations in his veins."
Like many freemen of Massachusetts, Private Ferrit continued to fight with colonial forces on an intermittent basis from 1775 to 1781. All of the soldiers were paid according to their rank regardless of their status (ie. free, indentured, enslaved or apprenticed) at the time of enlistment. He died in Natick on May 23, 1799. His name is memorialized on a tablet at the Indian Burial Ground on Pond Street in Natick.
Note: More often than not, service, vital, and/or other historical records were created and kept by men of English and European backgrounds. They employed a wide range of descriptive terms, such as "mulatto," negro," and "dark complexion." These terms cannot fully capture any soldier's identity, but they do offer clues. In some cases, the surname of a soldier of color connects him to a Natick family that is well documented. Often, these soldiers are Indigenous men. The biographies in this project make it possible to say more not only about a soldier's identity or background, but also about the life he led in Natick and beyond.