page_title: Stephen Blucke
section_title: Nova Scotia settlement
hierarchical_section_title: Stephen Blucke / Nova Scotia settlement
caption_attribution_description: Painting shows romanticised view of United Empire Loyalists arriving in New Brunswick, ca. 1783
context_page_description: Stephen Blucke or Stephen Bluck was a Black Loyalist, in the American Revolutionary War, and one the commanding officers, of the British Loyalist provincial unit, the Black Company of Pioneers. He was one of 3,000 people who left New York for Nova Scotia on British ships. He settled in a town designed for African-Americans, Birchtown, Nova Scotia. He was a leader in the town, called a magistrate and commissioned as lieutenant colonel of the Black Militia of the greater Shelburne district by Governor Governor John Parr. He worked with a surveyor to identify the area that would become Birchtown and was involved in coordinating labour for roads and other public works. He lived the life of a middle-class person while his neighbors lived a life of poverty. He had a substantial well-built house, while most people lived in simple housing. He was a go-between for employment of some of the townspeople in labor or similar jobs.
  When Blucke arrived in Birchtown, he was a married man with an adopted daughter and a man servant. Within a few years, he developed a relationship with the adopted daughter, and his wife moved back to New York.
context_section_description: One of about 3,000 free or emancipated Black Loyalists eligible to go to Nova Scotia, he came to The Maritimes in British Canada in August 1783 aboard the L'Abondance. He first settled with several hundred Black Pioneers in Port Rosey (now Shelburne, Nova Scotia). With Benjamin Marston, the chief surveyor, he identified the parcel of land to be used for the blacks. It was near a swamp and the land and the bay had sharp granite rocks. It is suggested that he may have accepted that land to avoid getting into a conflict with wealthy whites and to expedite getting settled. Six companies of African Americans were formed. Each company had a captain, and they were all under the leadership of Stephen Blucke. On September 3, 1783, they began to establish themselves in what became Birchtown, Nova Scotia, named after Samuel Birch who signed the certificates for the Black Loyalists. Birchtown was established specifically for people of African descent and its residents, including Blucke, were recorded in 1784 on the Birchtown Muster roll. They built rough shelters that were not suitable for people from southern climates. Blucke constructed the only well-built house in Birchtown. There was a four year delay in actually getting their land, residents received up to 40 acres, while Blucke had a 200 acre lot, likely because of his role coordinating activities with white and black communities. He may have also had some savings from the Revolutionary war. Although the soil in and around Birchtown was of poor quality for large-scale farming, Blucke had a substantial garden at his house.
  Blucke built a boat so that he could fish. He developed a friendship with Stephen Skinner, a local merchant, who went through Blucke to hire blacks, most of whom did not receive their promised land and had to work as laborers or domestics. Some became sharecroppers. Skinner may have acted as Blucke's patron. There was an Anglican church in town, but to attend the church, members had to rent a pew. Blucke was the only resident who could afford to pay for the rental.
  Birchtown held together for eight years, despite the famine, a violent race riot, widespread poverty, and the realisation that, despite being free, African-Nova Scotians were in a desperate fight for material and political equality.
  Sometimes referred to as the "Birch Magistrate", he helped people petition the authorities, witnessed the sale of property, and enforced a level of justice. Governor John Parr of Nova Scotia commissioned him as lieutenant-colonel of the Black Militia in the Shelburne District in September 1784. Under his leadership, he ran the Black Militia, which performed public works, like building a road to Annapolis. He has been referred to as "the true founder of the Afro-Nova Scotian community".
  He became a teacher and taught at one of the Bray Schools, for which he received a favorable review by the inspector of schools. After many of the blacks left Nova Scotia for Sierra Leone in early 1792, there were few students left and the schoolhouse closed in 1796. The remaining blacks, about one fifth of the original residents, left Birchtown for other areas, as there were few jobs or prospects by staying in Birchtown. In 1796 or 1797,  Blucke quietly left Birchtown.
caption: Henry Sandham, The Coming of the Loyalists
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