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Arts & Entertainment

Meet Ned Hector Free Black Colonial Soldier, Wagoneer, Respected Patriot, Hero at the Washington Twp. Public Library

Meet Ned Hector Free Black Colonial Soldier, Wagoneer, Respected Patriot, Hero at the Washington Twp. Public Library, 37 E. Springtown Rd., Long Valley, NJ on Saturday, February 12, 2011 at 1 p.m.

Noah Lewis presents an interactive dialogue in the person of Edward "Ned" Hector, soldier, teamster and hero of the Battle of Brandywine. Ned Hector was a teamster and artilleryman with Colonel John Proctor’s 3rd Pennsylvania Artillery Regiment. This unit was positioned near Chad's Ford. Late in the afternoon of September 11th, 1777 the British and Hessians began to overrun the American positions on the east side of Brandywine Creek and the order was given to abandon the guns, wagons, and horses and "save yourself". Hector is reported to have said, "The enemy shall not have my team; I shall save my horses and myself." He then grabbed up a stack of abandoned weapons, threw them into his wagon and escaped with his wagon -the only salvage from his company. Hector was never granted a pension as were many Continental soldiers. Finally, years after his service, a "grateful" Pennsylvania Legislature granted him a donation of $40 for his heroics. Hector lived in the Norristown area where he died in 1834 at the age of 90.

Call the Library at 908-876-3596 or go to www.wtpl.org and sign up under Adult Activities for this program!

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