Agrippa Hull Honored in Virginia

Pictured (clockwise from top left): Agrippa Hull, Revolutionary War veteran; Agrippa Hull descendent Peter Gunn speaking in Richmond; Group photo: Lt. Col. Stephen Olejasz, Agrippa Hull descendents Wray Gunn, Sr., and Peter Gunn, Honorary Consul of Poland Robert Joskowiak, and Virginia House of Delegates member Nick Freitas.

In October 2021, the city of Richmond, Virginia, celebrated its sister city relationship with Olsztyn, Poland at the Branch Museum in Richmond. Among those honored at the event was Stockbridge resident Agrippa Hull, a Black patriot who served in the Revolutionary War and helped shape the abolitionist thought of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a celebrated Polish military leader who was also honored at the event.

Clinton Church Restoration president Wray Gunn, Sr. attended the celebration with his wife and fellow board member, Cora Portnoff, and son Peter Gunn. The Gunns are descendants of Hull, who was born free in Northampton in 1759, moved to Stockbridge at the age of six, and went on to become the town’s most significant Black landowner. 

“I must admit that I am beaming with pride,” said Peter Gunn, who remembers hearing about Agrippa Hull as a child and spoke at the event on behalf of his family. “His demeanor, courage, and diplomacy are still relevant and needed today as we strive to eliminate disparities, division, and discrimination. He was indeed a man ahead of his times.” Gunn noted that both his father and grandfather had continued Hull’s legacy through their “service, leadership, accomplishments and historical firsts."