Biography
Born into an aristocratic family in West Africa in 1742, Boyrereau Brinch, was captured by European slave traders as a teen in 1758. He survived the middle passage, ending up in the British colony of Barbados where he endured "slave-breaking" and was eventually sold to Captain Isaac Mills. Mills trained Brinch as a sailor and he fought in the Seven Years War (French and Indian War) participating in the capture of Havana and travelling to Dublin, Savannah, New York, Newport, Halifax, and Boston. During his time on the ship he acquired the name Jeffrey Brace, which he used for the rest of his life.
In the late fall of 1763 Mills sold him to a business associate in Connecticut. Brace was enslaved by a series of cruel Connecticut masters until his purchase by the Widow Mary Stiles in 1768. Stiles taught him to read and upon her death he passed to her son in 1773.
Around 1777 Brace enlists in the American Revolutionary Army. He fought throughout the northeast and in 1783 he is honorably discharged with a badge of merit and manumitted (freed).
In 1784 Brace heads to Vermont where he purchases uncleared land in Poultney. He marries the African-born widow Susannah Dublin and works to establish a farm on his land. Brace is listed in the 1790-91 U.S. Census as head of household with three children. In 1802 the Braces move to Sheldon in northern Vermont where they acquire land, but by 1805 had settled permanently in Georgia where he joined the Baptist Church.
By 1810 Brace, now a widow, was blind and living in Georgia where he was approached by lawyer Benjamin Prentiss to record his life story. Brace recalled, in vivid detail, his autobiography which was published by Prentiss in October of that year. The autobiography is one of the few direct recordings of an African who recalls life in Africa, describes the middle passage, slavery, fighting in two wars, and freedom.
Jeffrey Brace died at home in 1827. His descendants generally stayed in Franklin County with two great grandchildren serving for the Union Army during the Civil War.Occupation
Sailor
Soldier
Farmer