Stephen Bluck

Stephen Blucke or Stephen Bluck (born –after 1796) 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 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. He later had a daughter with his adopted daughter, Isabel, who took his surname. Birchtown's population decreased significantly when many of the townspeople left for Sierra Leone in 1792. Once a schoolteacher, he closed the school after several years because there were so few students. He left Birchtown quietly about 1796 or 1797.

Early and personal life

Stephen Blucke, born about 1752, Margaret purchased Isabel Gibbons from Mrs. Coventry's daughter to free her and she became Stephen and Margaret's adopted daughter. Isabel was born about 1763. Living in the Birchtown, Nova Scotia household in 1784 were Stephen, Margaret, Isabel, Richard Wilkinson, and William Monday. There were nine other households in Blucke's Company. Richard Wilkinson what Blucke's servant who may have traveled with them from New York. In 1788, Blucke had also become unpopular because it was believed that he misappropriated funds. (There are no regimental records for the Black Brigade or Black Pioneers, though, that mention Blucke.) But, he was known as a leader of the blacks who came to Nova Scotia. who were a Black Loyalist company of soldiers who worked labor detail for the British Army.

A group of white Loyalists decided to flee the United States and settle at Port Roseway (now Shelburne, Nova Scotia). They formed the Port Roseway Associates. There were 3037 people, 415 of whom were servants, when they arrived at Port Roseway in May 1783. Of those, some of the servants were slaves. in August 1783 aboard the L'Abondance. (His name was Colonel Bluke on the Birchtown Muster roll of 1874.)

He became a teacher and taught at one of the Bray Schools, for which he received a favorable review by the inspector of schools. More than 13,000 artifacts were found during the archaeological excavation in 1998. The largest group of artifacts represented kitchen items used to prepare, store, or consume food and drinks. The next biggest portion of artifacts were architectural items used in the construction of the house. There were also tobacco pipe, clothing, arms, personal goods, and items for activities from the Blucke household. There were also some pre-contact artifacts of First Nations people. The articles are unique to other sites in Birchtown in that they are of particularly good quality, such as the quality of the kitchen ware, and the quantity of artifacts.