Peter Salem

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Peter Salem (1750 – 1816) was an African American who served as a soldier in the American Revolution. He was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, a slave of Jeremiah Belknap. Salem was later sold to Lawson Buckminster, who gave him his freedom.

Peter Salem took part in the battle of Concord on April 19, 1775. One week later, he enlisted in Captain Drury's company of Colonel John Nixon's regiment (6th Massachusetts Regiment ). He served with his regiment in the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he supposedly fired the shot that killed British Marine Major John Pitcairn. Salem reenlisted in 1776, and fought again at the battles of Saratoga and Stony Point.

After the war, he lived near Leicester Massachusetts. He died in the poor house at Framingham in 1816 at the age of 66. A monument was erected in 1882 in Framingham in his memory.

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