1779. He wintered during 1779–1780 at Morristown, New Jersey, serving on the outposts. In 1780, he served with the main army along the Hudson River and wintered at Camp Connecticut Village above the Robinson House during 1780–1781. Private life Nero married Peg, the slave servant of the Unity Parish pastor, Reverend James Beebe, in 1761. They raised seven children, five of whom were born before Nero enlisted in the army. Hawley was emancipated in 1782, but the children born to Nero and Peg remained the property of Reverend Beebe. Two children were listed in Beebe's inventory of his estate after his death in 1785. Nero formally emancipated all four children in 1801 when they were twenty-six and thirty-four years of age. After the war, Hawley became a brick maker. On March 14, 1791, Hawley, described in the old North Stratford Ecclesiastical Society book as a "free Negro man", withdrew with others from the Congregational Society of North Stratford and became a member of the Episcopal Church at Ripton, now Huntington. On May 26, 1808, Hawley's pension was increased to $3.33 per month, and he received a final pension increase to $40 per year in 1813. Nero Hawley died in 1817 at the age of 75, and is buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Trumbull Center. Descendants Nero's grandsons Grant and Peter Hawley were named trustees of the Zion Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in June 1835 when the church purchased land on Broad Street in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to construct a church building. The church, now known as the Walter's Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, is the oldest black church in Bridgeport and celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2010. See also David Hawley Joseph Hawley Ephraim Hawley House History of Trumbull, Connecticut List of slaves References Further reading E. Merrill Beach. (1976). From Valley Forge To Freedom. Trumbull Historical Society, Trumbull, CT. Reverend Samuel Orcutt. (1886). A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Fairfield County Historical Society. Robert Mayo and Ferdinand Moulton. (1852). Army & Navy Pension Laws, and Bounty Land Laws of the United States Excluding Sundrey Resolutions of Congress, 1776 to 1852. J.T. Towers, Washington. External links Connecticut History.Org Trumbull Patch Empire Patriot History of Valley Forge May 2003 Historic Valley Forge official website The USGenWeb Project, Fairfield County 1742 births 1817 deaths People from Trumbull, Connecticut 18th-century American slaves African Americans