The men Batt initiated into what became African Lodge were free men. What we often forget is that there have been as many, if not more, white and yellow slaves throughout the years. Bias has been deeply embedded in the subject of Prince Hall Masonry from its inception. Black and White Freemasons have used language to describe each other that's anything but brotherly. The bigots are not confined to just one side alone.
Truth is always difficult to determine for any subject.
Historians must depend on the work of others, but whenever possible the work of others should be supplemented by examining original documents. This is often demanding, but frequently more than one book or article will be found on the subject being researched. Such is the case with Black Freemasonry. Voorhis based much of what he wrote on Grimshaw's book. A short time later Voorhis discovered Grimshaw's book was loaded with errors and fanciful writing, so Voorhis removed his book from distribution.