Free & Enslaved People of Color in Wethersfield, 1634-1848: Introduction

For many years, the presence of slavery in Wethersfield has been the skeleton in the closet that historians have preferred to minimize or to ignore. Through decades of searching, Wethersfield Historical Society research librarian Martha Smart and independent researcher Diane Cameron have sought to recover the forgotten voices of the many people of color who lived in Wethersfield between 1634 and 1848. This database is the fruit of their labor. It is our hope that this database will serve as a springboard for future research and writing that will shed even greater light on the lives of Wethersfield’s people of color. We also hope that this database will give teachers the information that they need to share the stories of people of color in Wethersfield with their students.

Content Warning: When possible, the database uses quotations from primary sources. Racism was rampant in the era in which the primary sources that form the basis of this database were created. As such, some of the language in these primary sources will be jarring to a modern audience. Rather than try to erase these abhorrent attitudes and comments from the past, these sources are presented as written to allow readers to better understand this era of American history. Only by reckoning with the past, warts and all, can we hope to create a more just society in the future.

Note on the Unnamed People: The fact that someone is listed in the database as “unnamed” does not mean that that person did not have a name. Instead, whoever wrote the record did not bother to write down that person’s name. All of these people had names, but unfortunately their names are no longer known. In some cases, some of the unnamed people in the database may actually be people who are named elsewhere in the database, but in other cases the unnamed people are distinct individuals whose names and stories are no longer known.

Note on Spelling: Before Noah Webster’s dictionary, spelling in America was not standardized. As a result, words were spelled differently in the past than they are nowadays and the same word could be spelled more than one way within the same document. Names, as well, were spelled in multiple ways. The database does not endeavor to correct the spelling of the authors of the various quoted sources. Instead, words are spelled as they were in the context of the time.

Note on Dates: Enslaved people did not always know what year in which they were born. As a result, the ages that they use in various records are sometimes guesstimates. When an exact date cannot be determined, circa is used to indicate an approximate date.

Before 1752, the British Empire used the Julian Calendar. In 1752, the British Empire switched over to the Gregorian Calendar. Under the Julian Calendar, New Year’s Day fell on March 25. As a result, dates before 1752 can vary depending on whether or not they are written as Julian/Old Style dates or as Gregorian/New Style dates or as double dates (where both the Old Style and New Style dates are written with a / in between). The database uses the Gregorian/New Style of dates.

Note on Wethersfield’s Daughter Towns: Glastonbury, Rocky Hill, and Newington were all originally part of Wethersfield. The database includes people of color who lived in these towns when they were part of Wethersfield. The database does not attempt to trace the histories of all of the people of color who lived in those towns after said towns separated from Wethersfield.

Note on the Connecticut State Prison: In 1827, Wethersfield became the home of the Connecticut State Prison. The database does not include people of color who were imprisoned there, except for those individuals who lived in Wethersfield prior to being imprisoned.

Note on Keywords: The database features the following keywords:

Early Colonial
Late Colonial
American Revolution
Early Republic

Early Colonial includes people who lived in Wethersfield before 1700. Late Colonial includes people who lived in Wethersfield between 1700-1775. American Revolution includes people connected with the American Revolution. Early Republic includes people who lived in Wethersfield between 1775-1848. People who fit more than one of these categories are featured under multiple keywords.

Note on Abbreviations: Research for this project was done in many archives. The database acknowledges in parenthesis the source of the information provided and we encourage future researchers to visit the archives where these sources are located and view the original documents. The names of frequently cited archives/sources have been abbreviated. The following abbreviations are used:

Acct = Account
Adams & Stiles = Sherman Adams and Henry Stiles
Bk = Book
Brown & Rose = Barbara Brown and James Rose
Ca. = Circa
CHS = Connecticut Historical Society (now the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History)
CSL = Connecticut State Library
WHS = Wethersfield Historical Society
WDS = Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum