Author: Randolph Walker

Randolph Walker is native of Richmond and a journalist and musician in Roanoke. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
ENTRY

Cesar Tarrant (ca. 1740-1797)

Cesar Tarrant (also spelled Caesar/Ceasar and Terrant/Terant) was a pilot in the Virginia Navy during the American Revolution (1775–1783). Born around 1740, he steered the Patriot during an action against a British privateer off the Virginia Capes in 1778. Naval veterans testified to his gallantry. After the war, Cesar Tarrant was returned to his enslaver, Carter Tarrant. The General Assembly freed Cesar Tarrant in 1789. His wife, Lucy, and daughter, Nancy, were freed in 1793. He purchased a lot in Hampton and built a home for himself and the free members of his family. Two of his children were still enslaved when he died in 1797. He left a will asking the county court to “see Justice done my children.” In 1833, Nancy received a land grant as a reward for her father’s service. She used the proceeds from the sale of the land to free additional family members.

ENTRY

William “Billy” Flora (d. ca. 1819)

William “Billy” Flora of Portsmouth was a free Black soldier in Patriot service during the American Revolution (1775–1783). Flora was the hero of the Battle of Great Bridge, a resounding Patriot victory. There he reportedly single-handedly held off advancing British troops under a hail of bullets as they closed on Patriot forces. After Great Bridge, Flora served in the Continental Army through the Battle of Yorktown. After the close of the war, Flora received 100 acres of land in what is now Ohio for his service. Flora accumulated substantial wealth after the war as the owner of a livery stable and freight-hauling business in Portsmouth and was one of the first free Black men in Virginia to buy town property. He died in early 1819.

Sponsors