Stephen Blucke

Stephen Blucke or Stephen Bluck (born c. 1752–after 1796) was a Black Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War and one the commanding officers of the British Loyalist provincial unit, the Black Company of Pioneers. He was one of 3,000 people who left New York for Nova Scotia on British ships. He settled in a town designed for African-Americans, Birchtown, Nova Scotia. He was a leader in the town, called a magistrate and commissioned as lieutenant colonel of the Black Militia of the greater Shelburne district by Governor John Parr. He worked with a surveyor to identify the area that would become Birchtown and was involved in coordinating labour for roads and other public works. He lived the life of a middle-class person while his neighbors lived a life of poverty. He had a substantial well-built house, while most people lived in simple housing. He was a go-between for employment of some of the townspeople in labor or similar jobs.

When Blucke arrived in Birchtown, he was a married man with an adopted daughter and a man servant. Within a few years, he developed a relationship with the adopted daughter and his wife moved back to New York. He later had a daughter with his adopted daughter, Isabel, who took his surname. Birchtown's population decreased significantly when many of the townspeople left for Sierra Leone in 1792. Once a schoolteacher, he closed the school after several years because there were so few students. He left Birchtown quietly about 1796 or 1797.