Gabriel Hall

This is the only photo of a Black American who escaped to the British during the War of 1812.

Nova Scotia Archives

Quick Facts

Significance:

Only surviving photo of a Black Nova Scotian from War of 1812

Place of Birth:

Calvert County, Maryland

Date of Birth:

1801

Place of Death:

Nova Scotia

Date of Death:

1895

Gabriel Hall was born enslaved to Walter Wells in 1801 in Calvert County, Maryland. Although he was only about thirteen years old, he and three other enslaved people escaped to the British and received their freedom.

He was resettled in Halifax as shown by his name on the Halifax List, an extensive list created during the war that listed the names of newly freed Black Americans who arrived in Halifax. Although he resettled in the town of Preston, he did not receive any land on account of his age.

When he turned twenty-one in 1824, he petitioned the President of Nova Scotia for land: twenty-five acres of land on which he already lived as it did not already belong to anyone. Although there is record of his petition being approved for survey, it is unknown whether he received the land.

In Preston, he married a woman named Lucinda Hall around the same time and became a regular member of the African Baptist Church. In 1892, at about ninety-two years old, Hall had his photo taken – it is the only surviving photo of a Black American who resettled in Nova Scotia during the War of 1812.