Biography People
Jack Cudjo Banquante Full Biography
I am a product of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, descended from royalty, and sold from my native land known to you as Ghana to become enslaved in New Jersey. I believe I was born around the year 1723. I survived the journey from Africa to the western hemisphere, referred to as “the Middle Passage.” I remember well the march from my tribal homeland to the coast, my imprisonment in shackles in the large castle, the long voyage over the great waters, my arrival to the islands of the Caribbean, and my introduction to the family that would own me in Newark, NJ.
As a young man, I was purchased by the distinguished and wealthy Coe family of Newark. I was not forced to adopt the name of my master and kept my name as Cudjo Banquante. Cudjo is an Akan name given to a boy born on Monday and can be used as a first or last name. Banquante (Baa Kwante) is a Ghanian name of royal heritage. I insisted on retaining my name, often passing on the information about my heritage to my family and all who would listen.
Unfortunately, information about how I arrived in New Jersey is sketchy. I can tell you that I was able to adapt and survive the horrors of my transport and quickly became acclimated to my new home. Even my owner, Benjamin Coe IV, quickly saw my worth and I became one of the highly-valued, enslaved members of that family. My ability to make, build, and repair items earned me a respectable and trustworthy status in my new home.
Yes, I missed my family. I missed my home. However, I understood that the place I called home no longer existed the same way it did from my childhood. Wars and the arrival of the white man, seeking the natural resources of Africa and strong men like me to barter, disrupted life in Ghana as I knew it. I realized I had to adjust and make this land called Newark my home.
Over time there was much talk about the British, their taxes, and domination over the men who ruled this place called New Jersey. My owner, Mr. Coe and other powerful men of this area held discussions about what to do. Even during our services at First Presbyterian Church in Newark, there was talk of freedom and liberty. I listened closely to the sermons. I have always been a man of faith and the arduous journey from my homeland and all its horrors did not erase my faith in a God. This new God I was introduced to in my new home became my God and I tried to live my life in a way that would please both this God and the gods of my homeland.
The talk of fighting for liberty and freedom became louder and louder until, for the second time in my life, I was a witness and participant in a war. As the British, under the leadership of General Cornwallis’ army, invaded Newark in 1776, my master and his family would flee from Newark and live in Hanover, NJ where they stayed until the end of the war. For a while, I stayed behind in Newark and took care of the Coe family’s property. I did my best to preserve their property in that time but by the end of the war there was substantial damage: the cost of destruction by the British amounted to 337 pounds, 14 shillings, 4 pence – a very considerable sum. My master, thought to have given shelter to General Washington, had his home burned down by the British as punishment.
In 1777, the Continental Congress passed a law for every state to provide support to achieve independence from the British. As Benjamin Coe was too old for service, he provided me, his slave, as a substitute.
I first enrolled in the company of Captain Peter Dickerson in Colonel Elias Dayton’s 3rd New Jersey Regiment at Hanover in March 1777. In the military records, my name appears as Thomas John or “Jack” Cudjo. Although enslaved, I did my best for the cause of freedom for all men, taking part in many battles during the war. As a member of Brigadier General William “Scotch Willie” Maxwell’s brigade, I saw service at the battle of the Short Hills and on Staten Island in 1777, and later that year at Brandywine, Germantown, and the battle of Monmouth in 1778. I was with the Continental army during the terrible winters of 1777-78 in Valley Forge and at Morristown in 1779-80. My regiment and I participated in General Sullivan’s 1779 expedition against the people of the Six Nations and in the battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield in 1780. Finally, I marched south with General Washington under Colonel Dayton and achieved victory at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 and was later discharged.
For my service, I was given my freedom and, Mr. Coe V, son of my original master, purchased for me ten acres of land at the corner of Mercer and High (now Martin Luther King Blvd.) in 1791. In 1784, an act of New Jersey legislature made it so most enslaved men who fought during the war for independence were given their freedom. I was pleased that the promise of freedom was kept and happy to have been granted land as my reward for serving for my master in the war. With my land, I was able to do what I do best: making wonderful things grow from the earth. On my property I built a home for my family and started a horticultural business. Because I was an exceptional gardener, my business thrived, and I became known as a very successful businessman — perhaps the first of African descent in New Jersey but certainly the first in my town of Newark. Among my clientele were the wealthiest residents of Newark.
My gifts to my family upon my death were land, a business, and, among my peers and the wealthy, a reputation for being an intelligent and talented man who was faithful to my family and to my God. I lived to be about 100 years old. My wife and I were fortunate enough to raise a large family that, for a good period of time, remained in Newark and in New Jersey. I was buried in Newark on March 5, 1823. I was funeralized and buried under the auspices of Trinity Church (Episcopalian) and Cemetery which was located where the New Jersey Performing Arts Center now stands. My descendants carried the name and stories of my success with them so future generations would know of their heritage.
There is a plaque dedicated to me on the campus of The New Jersey Performing Art Center that states:
JACK CUDJO
FORMER SLAVE WHO FOUGHT BRAVELY IN THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION AND WAS AWARDED LAND IN NEWARK FOR HIS
MILITARY SERVICE
FURTHER SOURCES
Kofi Ayim, Jack Cudjo, Newark’s Revolutionary Soldier & First Black Businessman. Reedbuck, Inc., December, 2011.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Record Group 93: War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, 1709-1939.
Newark Public Library. “Blacks in New Jersey: The Journey Towards Economic Freedom.” Available at: https://knowingnewark.npl.org/blacks-in-new-jersey-the-journey-toward-economic-freedom/