Doesn’t this picture look funny? A black man in a hockey uniform? From Canada, no less! And what on earth does this have to do with the Revolutionary War?
That man is Willie O’Ree, the first black hockey player in the NHL. He is also the first black hockey player elected to the NHL Hall of Fame. Willie O’Ree is known as “Hockey’s Jackie Robinson”.
A few years ago Henry Louis Gates wanted to do a feature on Willie O’Ree for his PBS show “Finding your Roots”. The producers were able to trace his roots back to 1783 when they found a reference to his great, great, great grandfather in the “Book of Negroes”.
This book of 3,000 Negro names was compiled by British officials in Canada as they recorded recently freed enslaved persons from “Charlestown”.
During the Revolutionary War the British in Charleston promised freedom to any enslaved person who entered their lines. 5,000 enslaved persons took them up on the offer and made the dangerous trek to freedom.
The British did not adopt this policy due to any altruistic abolitionist sentiment. They thought that losing the labor of these people would weaken Patriot forces. And, the freed slaves were soon put to work strengthening British defenses.
Of the 5,000 people who entered those British lines, 3,000 were shipped to Canada after the war. Sadly, 2,000 of them were sold back into slavery in the Caribbean by corrupt British officials.
That’s how Willie O’Ree’s 3rd great grandfather wound up in Canada. The Book of Negroes states “Paris, 19, stout lad, (Cornet Merrell). Formerly the property of Col. Oree, Charlestown, South Carolina;
Left him 4 years ago & joined the British troops. GMC. (SCERA, Transcription of the Book of Negroes, Book 1, p77)”
Now, the show producers had a clear line of Willie O’Ree’s ancestors all the way back to South Carolina. But, who is this Col. Oree? There was no such Colonel by that name in South Carolina.
However, South Carolinians are quite familiar with this name. They just spell it differently. We know that name today as Horry, the name of the county where Myrtle Beach is located.
Once the researchers at the South Carolina Dept. of Archives and History realized how the name was spelled, they were able to research the records of Col. Elias Horry. By reading the family wills the researchers not only identified Paris O’Ree, they were also able to identify his parents and siblings. Paris’ family was “Doublin and his wife Bess and her children Paris, Harriott, Harry, and Lusey”.
When 15 year old Paris Oree entered British lines, he left his family behind forever. He never saw them again. Such was the fate of every one of those 5,000 individuals who fled bondage for strange and unknown circumstances. The lure of freedom led to difficult choices.
This commentary is not written to honor Willie O’Ree. He has earned enough accolades to last anyone a lifetime (he is 89 as of the time of this writing).
This commentary is written to honor his family, and the families of every other enslaved person who lost their family ties during the tumultuous times of the American Revolution.
Doublin and Bess. Harriet, Harry and Lusey. This is Paris Oree’s family, and this commentary is written for them.
Posted to Facebook 2/5/2025
