This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
First Rebel: James Smith and the Black Boys of 18th Century Pennsylvania
A detailed profile of James Smith and the Black Boys, early American rebels who led attacks against British forces in the Conococheague valley. The piece traces their actions from 1763 through the 1765 siege of Fort Loudon, their clashes with Lt. Grant and the Black Watch, and Smith’s later role in the Revolutionary era, ending with his death in Kentucky.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Elmo Scott Watson
Lincoln Highway
Fort Loudon
His Majesty’s Army
America
Black Watch
Charles Grant
Ralph Nailer
Fort Pitt
Conococheague
Widow Barr
Sergeant McGlashan
Neil H. Swanson
Farrar and Rinehart, Inc
James Smith
James Fenimore Cooper
Pennsylvania
North America
Pontiac
Col
Henry Bouquet
Bushy Run
Tiersmen
Conococneague Valley
Smith
Bouquet
Conococheague Valley
Philadelphia
Robert Callendar
Callendar
Grant
London
Baynton and Wharton
New York
Thomas Gage
George Croghan
Gage
Penn
Bob Callender
Ticonderoga
Bond
Swanson
Fort Bedford
Eighteenth Foot
Royal Irish
Royal Regiment of Ireland
Lexington
Carlisle
Bedford
Westmoreland County
Cambridge
George Washington
Tommy Gage
Boston
New Jersey
Washington
Morristown
Detroit
Washington County
Kentucky