The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1915-12-13
BLACK BILL


clared war on the British Crown not
a few gentlemen whose loyalty to I
England was greater than their valor
engaged passage to the
mother country, and righteously
shook the dust Of the New World
from theirs feet. Among those whose
allegiance to the King did not lead |
them to such lengths as to shoulder a
rifle in his behalf was the Rev. Mr.. |
Chalton, of Staten Island. The c1er-
gyman had amassed a goodly share OF
this worlds goods, including number
of negro slaves but his fear that he
might be called upon to go to heaven5
If he remained among the 'frebels', led I
him to suddenly abandon all his pos
sessions. While the reverend gentle |
man found safety in England, his
slaves We're left to shift for them |
selves.
N Among the black folk thus abandon-I
ed by their owner was one william, |
called "Bi1P' for the sake of brevity, |
a handsome, bright and physically |
well endowed youth of thirteen. The
island was in a turmoil, and slaves /
were a drug on the market, so poor
bill wandered about from pillar to |
post, begging or Stealing his food, with |
the wolf Of starvation Constantly snap
ping at his heels. He was a forlornli
piled at q house which had been occu-
pied as the headquarters of Mrigadier-l
General Hugh Percy, a British officer.
Gen. Percy, who afterward became
the Duke sofs Northumberland took q
fancy to the eoIored lad, and made
him his valet. Bill was a faithful
and obedient servant, and soon al
strong affection grew up between the
young English officer and the negro
boy slLq
when Gen. Percy succeeded to the
baronetcy of Percy, and returned to
England, he took with him the young
negro. When the ship reached the
English shore Bill became a free mar,
but the nob1ema.n did not lose interest
in the welfare of his ebony protege.
Bill. whoS had adopted the name of
Richmond after the township of his
birth, was sent to school for three
years at the expense of his benefactor-
The coIored boy, by his good nature
and his skill In athletic sports, BEL
came a favorite with his companions.
After leaving school he was given his
choice Of trades and decided that he
wanted to be- cabinet-rnaker. The
| Duke paid all the expenses of Bilfs.
! apprenticeship to q z ork handicrafts-
man, and for seven years the Youthful
negro devoted himself to mastering his
trade, and became an expert work
man.
/ Bill attracted much attention in
York, being the only black man in.
that town. He had a great fondnessI
for gay coIors, and, as the masculine.
fashions permitted his indulgence in
all the hues of the rainbow, and the
/ Duke made a liberal provision for his.
clothing, Bill was, to say the least Of
| it, rather conspicuous.l Red, blue and
! green, yellow, pink and orange, fig.
ured in his saTtorial effects, and, to
1 top it all, he wore in his hat the brill
liant plumage of a peacock.
Even in those days such a garb
could not fail to arouse the mirth of
the spectators, and Bill was the tar
| get of many rihald jeers. At length
his patience was exhausted, and he at
tackled his tormentorS with his fists so
effectively that their laughter was 81
/ fenced. The DULLES OF York were
not slow to give in, however, and be-
/ fore he had forced them TO respect,
his attire, Bill had fought scores of
hard and bloody battles Except for
his fondness for gay clothes, Bill would
probably have remained a respectable
| cabinet maker all his life, and so
would have missed the distinction OF
4 being the first negro pug1list in the
/ history of the sport,
! BiIFs prowess as a Fighter was wide.
i ly heralded. and in 1901 the negro
| was engaged as guard 5or 'rninder'
/ by Lord Camelford, one Of the prom
| inent sporting mobiles of the day. His
Ludship Nhad dasapproved of the
peace between England and France,
and had expressed his disapprova1 in
/
| nifty of the populace. On several oc-
casions he was attacked and beataer.
and, following the custom of the day.
he engaged the services of a mind
Ier's q
/ u Bill Richmond made an efficient
1ninder for Lord Camelford, who was
| safe from ftstfc attacks when his
able bodyguard was sround. BIls
Inew master was an enthusiast on the
subject of pugilism, and. seeing good
/ he hos In IN "a
negro in the art of self defence The
negro's first ring battle. however,
| was a disappointment In 1904 the
iex-slave was matched with the Vete-
ran George, Maddox. but it was quick
| ly dem onstrated that Bill had much TO
learn of ring generalshtp. Rich
| mond was knocked under the ropes in
| the first round, thrown out of the ring
in the second and almost blinded IN
/ the third, when he declared that he
| had had enough for one time.
! After a thorough course of training
| Bill was again matched in 1905, his
| opponent this time being the famous
Tom Crib. The black made a, much
better showing than before, but Crib
was too good for him, and after an
/ hour and a half of fighting the black
man was vanquished. After that Bill
became a trainer and second, and act
| ed for his former enemy, Crib, in the
latter's battle with Belcher, and for
| Bob Gregson when he fought Gully for
| the title. H}'
Bill was enabled by some of his no
| BILE hackers to take the Horse and Dol
| phin, a tavern in the Leicester Square
| section of London, where he became
| a popular sporting iboniface, When
Tom Molineaux. another negro ex-
slave from America, arrived in Eng
| land in 1909 to challenge British pu-
i g1lists for the championship, Bill gave
a warm welcome to the sable gladia-
| tor. ~
| Bill undertook the management of
the affairs of his countrynan, and,