Enslaved from childhood in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Abijah Prince gained his freedom in 1751. Five years later, he married Lucy Terry in the Connecticut Valley town of Deerfield, Massachusetts.
Amos Fortune was enslaved in Woburn, Massachusetts. After earning his own freedom, he purchased freedom for his first and second wives and moved to Jaffrey, New Hampshire, where he started his own tannery.
Cato and his mother Jin were enslaved by Reverend Jonathan Ashley of Deerfield, Massachusetts. They both worked for the Ashley family for the remainder of their long lives.
Ebenezer Wells
1691
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1758
Ebenezer Wells and his wife Abigail were the enslavers of Lucy Terry and Caesar.
In 1781, Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman of Sheffield, Massachusetts, fought in the courts to win her freedom in a landmark case that made slavery unconstitutional in Massachusetts.
After Heber Honestman gained his freedom in the 1720s, he moved his family from Easton, Massachusetts, to what would become Ashfield, Massachusetts. He was one of the town's first settlers.
Jin Cole recalls her capture in Africa. She and her son Cato were enslaved by the Reverend Jonathan Ashley family of Deerfield, Massachusetts, for the rest of their lives.
Lieutenant Matthew Clesson was a 43-year-old farmer. surveyor, and a militia officer who owned a substantial real estate and posssessions when he died in 1756.
Born free in Africa in present-day Senegal, Phillis Wheatley was enslaved by the Wheatley family when she became the first African American published poet.
Enslaved by Samuel Barnard of Deerfield, Pompey also worked for other members of the Barnard family and farmers in town. Pompey's feet were severely frostbitten while sledding wood for Samuel's brother Joseph in January 1741.
Samuel Dickinson, his father, and his older brother, Nathaniel, enslaved several people, including an enslaved couple, Hagar and Caesar as well as hiring enslaved labor from the Reverend Jonathan Ashley and other residents.
Venture Smith recalls his life in Africa, his capture, and enslavement in Connecticut. He purchased not only his own freedom but that of his family and three African American men.