The early attempts at settling Sierra Leone has spawned many significant Black figures in history. Harry Washington hailed from West Africa and was sold to George Washington in 1763. He was purchased to assist in draining Virginia and North Carolina’s Great Dismal Swamp. He would also work as a stable hand.
In 1771 Harry Washington fled from Mount Vernon and lived in New York. With the outbreak of the American Revolution, he returned to Virginia to serve under Royal Governor John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore in 1776. His Ethiopian Regiment was made up of freed slaves and Harry Washington excelled in the unit. Later that year, he returned to New York and was made corporal of the Black Pioneers.
LIFE AFTER THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
When the war ended, he and roughly 3,000 Black Loyalist were moved to Nova Scotia by the Crown. He was listed as being 43-years old in documents and listed as “Henry Washington.” He lived in Birchtown until 1792 when he moved to Sierra Leone with his wife Jenny Washington with over 1,100 other Black Nova Scotians.
Life was run of the mill in Freetown. He farmed the land and assisted in building structures in the colony. Eventually, a very familiar ill would hit Freetown in taxes. The Sierra Leone Company was the regulating body in the colony which represented England. Since the Crown covered the travel, resources, and so on for colonization, it felt it was time for Freetown to start paying up.
THE FREETOWN REBELLION
The result was hundreds of Black settlers rising up in 1800. Laws and a native governing body were established and the Sierra Leone Company sent Jamaican troops to deal with the settlers. The rebellion was quashed quickly and several settlers were banished. Harry Washington found himself in Bullom Shore, Sierra Leone where another settlement was formed.
This is where Washington’s story ends and becomes a mystery. Since he was banished it’s not exactly known when he died since the Crown wasn’t documenting his existence. His death is assumed to have been in 1800 with no assumed age since the one given in the Book of Negroes in 1776 was one he simply provided and would’ve put him at the same age as George Washington at the time.