portsmouthhistorynotes

Rowing twelve miles from Newport to Point Judith, Jane Coggeshall, Violet Pease and William Carpenter made their escape from slavery. Their escape was especially dangerous because it was in March of 1777 when Aquidneck Island was occupied by the British and their military forces had tight control of the island. When they landed on the shores of the West Bay, the three were were presented to the General Assembly that was meeting in South Kingstown. They were granted their freedom in exchange for information about the British troops on Aquidneck Island. They were given a pass to go wherever they could find work.

We find out more about Jane because she learned that her previous owners were searching for her to re-enslave her. In the years after her escape, Jane Coggeshall was vigilant about her freedom and she moved from town to town to secure work as a servant. In 1783, she learned that the descendants of her former enslaver, Captain Daniel Coggeshall, were attempting to re-enslave her. Jane believed that they hired kidnappers to take her away by force. She petitioned the Rhode Island General Assembly to clarify her free status and she testified that she would rather “embrace death” than be re-enslaved. Her legal advisors asked that Jane receive the same consideration that Quaco Honeyman (another former enslaved person) received in 1782 for escaping and providing intelligence that led to the capture of British General Prescott.

The General Assembly responded:

“Whereas, Jane Coggeshall, of Providence, a negro woman preferred a petition and represented unto this Assembly, that she was a slave to Captain Daniel Coggeshall, of Newport; that in March, A.D. 1777, the enemy being then in possession of Rhode Island, she, together with others, at every risk, effected their escape to Point Judith; that they were carried before the General Assembly, then sitting in South Kingstown, who did thereupon give them their liberty, together with a pass to go to any part of the country to procure a livelihood; that she hath lived at Woodstock and at Providence ever since; that during the whole time she hath maintained herself decently and with reputation, and can appeal to the families wherein she hath lived with respect to her industry, sobriety of manners, and fidelity.”

In 1785 the General Assembly voted to declare Jane Coggeshall “entirely emancipated and made free.”

More information can be found on the Rhode Island Historical Society website: “Jane Coggeshall’s Self- Emancipation in Revolutionary Rhode Island.”