Woodward, Pompey and Mary
Pompey and Mary Woodward
Sullivan, NH
Pompey Woodward was born in 1762 in Shrewsbury, MA. At a young age during the American Revolution, he enlisted in the war while a resident of Bridport, VT. There, Woodward served as a waiter for officer Col. Edward Raymond where he served at Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of Bennington. Woodward was discharged in November 1777 and moved to Sterling, MA.
At age 26, he married Rosanna Hendley on April, 15 1788, in Sterling MA. The Pompeys are documented as residents of Sterling in the 1790 U.S. federal census. Pompey is listed as a free Black head of household, living with his wife Rosanna and one other free person of color. This other person was most likely their newborn daughter Miley/Milly Woodward, born in 1790.
Pompey Woodward married for a second time on February 16, 1800 to Polly/Mary Harry (1761-1855) in Worcester, MA. The marriage record describes both husband and wife as Black. The couple sought to build a new life for themselves in southwest New Hampshire with his daughter Miley. The first mention of their residence in Sullivan, NH, is noted in their purchase of pew #11 in the local Baptist Church.
Perhaps with money obtained as a veteran, Woodward was able to purchase at least 85 acres of land in Sullivan, NH, where he engaged in work as a yeoman farmer. On three occasions in the 1810s Pomp and Mary Woodward sold off portions of their property to neighbors. In the 1814 deed, Mary Woodward was also required to give up her dower on the property. Also of note is the signature of a witness Abraham Thomas, possibly another Revolutionary War veteran of color who had relocated to Cheshire County following the war.
In September 1811, daughter Miley died at the age of 21 in Sullivan, NH. Pompey and Mary Woodward continued to live in town. The 1820 census records their residency. Pompey was listed as a free Black head of household, over the age of 45, living in a home with a woman of color over the age of 45 (Mary), and a female under 14 and a female between 14-26. The younger female could have been a family member but her name is unknown, to date.
The 1830 federal census reveals that the aging couple was living on their own. Pompey “Pomp” Woodward resided with a free black woman over the age of 55 (Mary).
In 1832, Pompey Woodward was issued his pension at the age of 70. His service record paperwork provides many details of his service in the American Revolution.
"In the year 1776, he thinks in June, at Crown Point when the army arrived there under General Arnold from Canada, he volunteered and entered the __ as a private, was immediately placed in the hospital and was inoculated with smallpox, had the disease, and as soon as he recovered from it- was taken as a waiter by Col or Capt Edward Raymond who was then or soon after, and most of the time while he, Woodward, was in the house, a commissary that he went from Crown Point with the troops to Ticonderoga- was employed in repairing the fort at Ti- and at Mount Independence, was back and forth - and stationed at the Ti side- continued there in the service until Bergoyne came down in the Spring of 1777- that Burgoyne landed above Ticonderoga, crossed the neck of St George, and took possession of Mount Defiance and that our troops then abandoned Ticonderoga. That he was then marched off on Mount Independence side and went towards Bennington - through Hubbardston- was in attendance at the time of the Hubbardston battle-- went from there to Castleton- and afterwards from there to Bennington- was at Bennington at the time of the battle-- saw the prisoners taken at the battle both in Bennington and put into the meeting house-- ___ that there was a disturbance among the prisoners in the night, and that they were fired upon by the __, while in the meeting house and that some of them were killed-- that after the Battle of Bennington he remained there until Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga. That he then went with the Capt or Col Raymond to Castleton-- that Capt or Col Raymond then proceeded up to the neighborhood of Ticonderoga, and left him at Castleton awaiting his return, for the purpose of looking after some property which said Raymond had in the vicinity of Ticonderoga. that said Raymond that he afterwards understood from him, was taken prisoner there, carried to Canada and afterward to Halifax- and exchanged in about two years and brought to Boston-- that he said Woodward when he learned said Raymond was taken soon after said Raymond left him at Castleton, had no further duty, does not know that he engaged for any definite term, but served as above stated from June 1776 to some time in Nov 1777- making as he believes 17 months- That he was born in the Shrewsbury, Mass in the year 1762 has no __ of his age-- lived in Bradford, VT when he entered the service- was a volunteer- has lived at Sterling, Mass since the war until 25 years last __ that he has lived at Sullivan where he now lives-- recollects Gen Arnold, Gen Gates, and Gen Mc Clain in said service- knows of no positive __ memory that he can procure to his service, never __ written discharge- __Charles Cummings and Josiah Seward both of Sullivan are acquainted with me and can testify to my sanity (?) and belief of my service as a soldier of the Revolution." [X] for his signature
Pompey Woodard died in Sullivan, NH on January 13, 1843. He is buried in Four Corners Cemetery in Sullivan, NH.
After his death, in the winter of 1844, widow Mary Woodward's cottage burned down in the night. In 1853, after Congress passed a law allowing widows of soldiers to claim their pensions, Mary Woodward filed a claim at Cheshire County court seeking her husband’s pension of $56.66 per year. The paperwork is signed by her with an X indicating an inability to read/write. Testimonies by Sullivan residents Harrison Rugg and Abijah Hastings confirm that “Colored” couple Pomp and Mary Woodward had come to Sullivan more than 40 years prior and that Mary had lived with him until his death.
Mary Woodward left New Hampshire to live out the rest of her life in Worcester, MA. In 1855, she filed for bounty land from the government; it is unclear whether or not she obtained land. Mary Woodward lived off of Pomp’s pension until her death on July 28, 1856.
In 1938, residents in the Keene, NH, area raised funds to purchase a headstone for Pompey Woodward.
~Written by Keene State College student, Amanda Rotigliano, 2024.
GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY
POMPEY WOODWARD was born in Shrewsbury, MA, in 1762. He married 1st ROSANNA HENLEY in Sterling, MA, in 1788. They had a daughter MILLY/MILEY WOODWARD (1790). Pompey married 2nd MARY “POLLY” HARRY in 1800. Pompey Woodward died in Sullivan, NH, in 1843. Mary (Harry) Woodward died in Worcester, MA, in 1856.
PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIALS
1790 United States Federal Census [database on-line] — Ancestry.com
1800 United States Federal Census [database on-line] — Ancestry.com
1810 United States Federal Census [database on-line] — Ancestry.com
1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line] — Ancestry.com
1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line] — Ancestry.com
1840 United States Federal Census [database on-line] — Ancestry.com
Deed from Pompey Woodward to Samuel Seward, September 22, 1814. Registry of Deeds, Cheshire County, NH, vol. 77, p. 183.
Deed from Pompey Woodward to Nathan Bolster, March 22d 1818. Registry of Deeds, Cheshire County, NH, vol. 78, p. 587.
Deed from Pompey Woodward to Samuel Seward, December 18, 1820. Registry of Deeds, Cheshire County, NH, vol. 87, p. 123.
Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850 [database on-line]— Ancestry.com
Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line].— Ancestry.com
Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1643-1982 [database on-line].— Ancestry.com
New Hampshire, U.S., Death and Disinterment Records, 1754-1947 [database on-line]— Ancestry.com
New Hampshire, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1643-1982 [database on-line]— Ancestry.com
U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985 [database on-line].— Ancestry.com
U.S., The Pension Roll of 1835 [database on-line] — Ancestry.com
U. S. Revolutionary War Pensions and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files 1800-1900 — Ancestry.com
U.S., Revolutionary War Pensioners, 1801-1815, 1818-1872 [database on-line]— Ancestry.com
SECONDARY SOURCE MATERIALS
Knoblock, Glenn A. “Strong and Brave Fellows.” McFarland, 20 Aug. 2003.
Lanning, Michael L. African Americans in the Revolutionary War. Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2021.
McHenry, Chris. “Rebel Prisoners at Quebec, 1778-1783 : Being a List of American Prisoners Held by the British during the Revolutionary War : McHenry, Chris : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.” Internet Archive, 1981, archive.org/details/rebelprisonersat00mche/page/n7/mode/2up. Accessed 17 June 2026.
“Pompey Woodward (Unknown-1843) - Find a Grave...” Findagrave.com, 2022, www.findagrave.com/memorial/32116486/pompey-woodward. Accessed 18 June 2026.
Quintal, George. Patriots of Color. U.S. Government Printing Office, 2004.
Rees, John. “War as a Waiter: Soldier Servants.” Journal of the American Revolution, 28 Apr. 2015, allthingsliberty.com/2015/04/war-as-a-waiter-soldier-servants/.
Seward, Josiah Lafayette. A History of the Town of Sullivan, New Hampshire, 1777-1917. 1992.
“Soldiers and Sailors – MASSAR.” Massar.org, 2017, massar.org/soldiers-and-sailors/.
Van, Judith L. Standing in Their Own Light : African American Patriots in the American Revolution. Norman, University Of Oklahoma Press, 2018.