- Jacob Hall was the slave of Robert Dunkinson, who lived in St. Mary's County, Maryland. Jacob and another slave, Abram, escaped from Dunkinson during the War of 1812, when the British military set up a blockade on Maryland waterways. The British offered immediate emancipation to any slave who would fight with the British in the war against America. Jacob Hall went on board the British ship Havannah with at least eight other fugitive slaves from St. Mary's County. Following his escape, Jacob Hall went with a British officer to the home of George Loker to retrieve his wife Lucinda "Lucy" Hall and their daughter Letty. In addition, six other slaves escaped to the Havannah from Loker's property. The refugees boarded His Majesty's Ship Havannah were later transferred to H.M.S. Orlando. They were carried to Tangier Island, where they remained until after the war.
After the war Jacob Hall and his family were carried to Nova Scotia. The Hall family settled in the Annapolis Valley community of Horton Bluff in Nova Scotia. Jacob and Lucy Hall had seven more children, including William Hall.
- Maryland State Archives
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