Talbot was a successful sailmaker who provided Jane and their family with a comfortable life.
Jane Thompson, also known as Jenny, and her mother Sabina were enslaved by John Tucker, who came with his brother to Virginia from the Caribbean about the turn of the 18th century.
[3][a] She was recorded on Tucker's tithable list in 1750 and called Old Jenny, worth five pounds in 1767.
[3] She married Talbot Thompson, who bought his freedom in 1761 and earned his living making sails.
[8] They became interested in Methodism, likely inspired in 1772 by traveling preachers Joseph Pilmore or Robert Williams.
They participated in racially diverse religious meetings in houses of people in the maritime businesses.
[9] During the American Revolutionary War, son James Jackson, identified as formerly enslaved by Robert Tucker, was recruited by Lord Dunmore, governor of the Colony of Virginia about 1775 to be a pilot for the Royal Navy.
[2] Lord Dunmore proclaimed on November 14, 1775, that all blacks—whether enslaved, free or indentured—would be freed if they served the British during the war.
Grace embarked on the Dunluce on May 21, 1776, but at some point returned to Norfolk and ran away again with two girls in 1779.
[2] Son John Jackson, served the British General Leslie in Hampton in late 1780.
[3] Son John and his wife Nancy sailed on the same ship to Nova Scotia as Jane.
She traveled on the same ship as James Thompson, enslaved by Edward Cooper of Hampton, and is believed to be Jane's son.