Plato Van Doorn

Plato Van Doorn (or Van Dorum, Van Doren, &c., born circa 1755) was a man originally from West Africa. He was sold into slavery and forced to serve the Van Doorn family in Bristol. During the war, he served in Elijah Lewis’s Company of Christopher Greene’s Regiment following that regiment’s reorganization. Plato was a tailor by trade, and continued this work during the war, making uniforms for his fellow soldiers.  He had enlisted for the duration of the war and continued his service in Jeremiah Onley’s Battalion after the two Rhode Island Regiments were combined in 1781. Plato received a furlough from the army at Saratoga in February, 1782 and was discharged in June, 1783. He was five feet, one and three quarter inches tall