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Claire Bellerjeau

Claire Bellerjeau is the co-author of Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth, published in May 2021. In 2022, she co-founded a nonprofit organization called Remember Liss, with the mission of educating the community about Liss’ extraordinary life and times. Through the nonprofit, she co-wrote and published a student version of Liss’ story, titled Remember Liss, in March 2023. She has been researching the Townsend family and those they enslaved for over 20 years and works with teachers to develop curriculums to share Liss’ story, using primary documents from her research.

Stories from Claire Bellerjeau

Nathan Hale was captured and executed by the British within days of his arrival on Long Island. David Maltbie evaded detection for a much longer time, although he, too, was eventually caught by the enemy.

This Connecticut Teenager Spied on the British During the American Revolution, Succeeding Where Nathan Hale Failed

Newly uncovered documents reveal the story of David Maltbie, who relayed intelligence to the patriots in 1776, narrowly avoiding execution as a spy

The Cato who aided Hercules Mulligan might have been a man enslaved by the powerful Schuyler family.

Did an Enslaved Chocolatier Help Hercules Mulligan Foil a Plot to Assassinate George Washington?

New research sheds light on the possible identity of Cato, the Black man who conveyed the tailor’s lifesaving intelligence to the Americans during the Revolutionary War

As recent archival finds and reappraisals of well-known documents show, Liss forged her own path to freedom—and may have even spied on the British while doing so.

Did an Enslaved Woman Try to Warn the Americans of Benedict Arnold’s Treason?

New research sheds light on Liss, who was enslaved by the family of a Culper Spy Ring leader and had ties to British spymaster John André