Agrippa Hull facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Agrippa Hull
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Agrippa Hull in the 1840s.
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| Born | March 7, 1759 |
| Died | May 21, 1848 (aged 89) Stockbridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
Agrippa Hull (born 1759, died 1848) was an amazing free African-American patriot. He was born free in Northampton, Massachusetts. During the American Revolutionary War, he bravely served for over six years. For five of those years, he was a personal helper to a famous Polish officer named Tadeusz Kościuszko. After the war, Agrippa received a special pension signed by George Washington himself, which he treasured. He later became a very important black landowner in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, living to be 89 years old.
Agrippa Hull's Early Life and Military Service
At 18 years old, Agrippa joined the Patriot army in 1777. He signed up to fight for six years. For almost five years, he was a personal assistant to Tadeusz Kościuszko. Kościuszko was a Polish engineer who helped design important defenses for the American army. Agrippa also helped the medical team care for sick and wounded soldiers. In his last two years of service, he worked with doctors. He even learned to do simple operations, like fixing broken bones.
Kościuszko was very impressed with Agrippa and other African Americans in the army. This experience made him a strong supporter of abolitionism. Abolitionism was the movement to end slavery. In 1798, Kościuszko named his friend Thomas Jefferson to carry out his will. Kościuszko wanted to use his money from America to buy freedom for enslaved black people. He also wanted to give them training and land so they could support themselves. However, after Kościuszko died in 1817, his plans were not carried out. The money eventually went to his family in Poland.
Life After the War in Massachusetts
When the war ended, Agrippa Hull returned to Massachusetts. He used the money he had saved to buy land in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Over the years, he became one of the largest black landowners in the town. He kept buying properties with his savings from work. After the war, he worked for a time in the home of Theodore Sedgwick.
Theodore Sedgwick was a young lawyer who had defended Elizabeth Freeman, also known as Mum Bett. She sued for her freedom and helped end slavery in Massachusetts. Elizabeth Freeman also worked for the Sedgwick family for many years. Theodore Sedgwick later became a state politician and a US Senator. He was then appointed as a judge for the Massachusetts State Supreme Court.
