Private Thomas Dority*

Thomas Dority was a Black veteran of the Revolutionary War.

On April 30, 1775, Thomas Dority enlisted in Captain James Mellen’s Company, in Colonel Jonathan Ward’s Regiment.

On May 15, 1775, Private Thomas Dority “received of the Selectmen of Natick for the use of the Massachusetts service one gun prized at sixteen shillings.”

Following the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, he was listed on an order for cartridge boxes.

His unit, the 21st Continental Regiment, participated in the Siege of Boston which was an eleven-month period from April 19, 1775 to March 17, 1776.  After serving with the 21st Continental Regiment, Private Dority was likely discharged in early 1776 at the end of his 8 month enlistment.

On August 16, 1777, Dority enlisted in Captain Joseph Winch’s Company in Colonel Samuel Bullard’s Regiment. He was discharged on October 7, 1777. 

In 1790, Thomas Dority was listed as a head of household of two free people in the Natick census. 

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.