USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Deerfield > History of Deerfield, Massachusetts: the times when the people by whom it was settled, unsettled and resettled, vol 2 > Part 21
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The Fire Bell. The fearful tones of the fire bell jangling the still night air with its startling clang, too often calling the people to battle with the Fire Fiend, was the same here as everywhere.
The Noon Bell. The bell was also rung in summer at twelve o'clock. M. This was largely for the benefit of those working on the Meadows, generally the larger part of the male popu- lation, and the sound thereof filled the waiting ear of tired man and beast with joyful music. It was not a summons to home and a hot dinner, but to a welcome hour of rest after six or seven hours of laborious toil. If in planting time, the team, usually two pair of oxen-though often three or four pair-with a horse for a leader, a man for holder and a boy for driver, had been slowly but steadily turning the foot deep furrows, one hundred to one hundred and sixty rods to the bout; men trying their muscle in "holing out," others " dung- ing out," from the large dunghill provided over winter, or planting, or harrowing, the rows growing longer as the fore-
887
COLD POT LUCK.
noon grew older. The team was first cared for. After being watered at the most convenient pond or stream, the oxen were chained to the wheels on either side of the dung cart, and made happy with a bountiful supply of fragrant hay from the big bundle; the horse, tied on one side of the neap, took his rations over the fore-board of the cart. These pro- vided for, the hungry men and boys seated themselves on the ground under the spreading branches of the dinner tree, to discuss the contents of the ample dinner box; the beef, pork, turnips and potatoes, the bread and butter, the gingerbread and nutcakes, disappeared like magic, while the jug of cider passed from hand to hand or mouth to mouth. If there was ever a bounteous banquet board where the choice viands were eaten with as keen a relish as the cold pot luck under the dinner tree, the writer never had the good fortune to be present. The Dinner Bell is held in affectionate remem- brance.
COLLECTIONS FOR CHARITABLE OBJECTS IN CHURCH OR CON- GREGATION 1739-50.
1739, Aug. 19. There was a Collection in this Congregation for Joshua Wells whose family had Labored under great afflictions for some time, and there was gathered twelve pounds ten shillings & six pence, and it was observed upon the same Day, after there had been a dought for a Considerable time there was a plentiful rain. So God is pleased to reward our Small Deeds of Charity with his Larger Bounties in this World
Sept. 30. The Congregation contributed £14, 88 to assist Rev. Mr. Torrey dissenting minister in Narraganset in a suit against Rev. Mr. Sporan minister of ye ch of Engl'd who sued Mr Torry for one half of the Sequestered Lands in South Kingston in Narraganset
Nov. 20. Thanksgiving day £9, 138 were gathered for the poor 1740, Nov. 16. There was gathered for the poor £14.
1741, June 7. £7, 108 was contributed for the people of Charles- ton S C, who had suffered by the Great Fire.
1743-4. Jan. 1. There was a collection for some persons under difficult circumstances and there was gathered £25, O T.
1745, Sept. 9. Fast Day £14 108 was collected for Rev. Mr. Tim- othy Harrington of Lower Ashuelot whose house was lately burned
1747, Nov. 26. Thanksgiving Day £15 collected for the poor.
1748, June 9. Public Fast on account of the Drought, after ser- vice there was a collection of £30, 68 of this £10, 10, 6 was for Wid. Allen Lo 135, 8ª for John Allen, £4. 16 for James Rider, 88 to Wil- liam Mitchell. The rest to be disposed of by the Deacons,-added to James Rider £4, 14, added to John Allen £4, 1, 14 given to Eleazer Hawks on the account of his grandchildren £6, o, o, given to Wm. Mitchell £o, 12, 0.
1747 [sic] Nov. 16. Thanksgiving Cold £40, 108 (). T. directed to
888
BELLS-CHARITIES-NEGRO SLAVERY-CHEAPSIDE.
the Ind. School at Stockbridge £3, 118, to Mr Braynards indians to build a Meetinghouse 168 to Lieut Burt, 48 to William Mitchell the rest to be Disposed of by the Deacons. 1753 Thanksgiving Cold £28 in O. T. Collected £24 for the In- dian School at Stockbridge which Capt. Martin Kellogg has the care of.
NEGRO SLAVERY.
To those who have been in the habit of thinking of negro slavery as an exclusively Southern institution, this title may have in it an element of surprise, if not of offence. I know of no reason, however, why we should not face the facts re- lating to it, found in church and town records, and old family manuscripts. There can be no dispute that for more than a hundred years before the foot of a slave was allowed to pol- lute the soil of Georgia, men, women and children were bought and sold, and held, and worked, by the leading digni- taries of the Puritanic Colony of Massachusetts Bay; and on the death of their owners were inventoried in their estates as property, together with horses, hogs, cows and other animals.
With the apologists for the man stealer, so long as there were any, the stock argument was, that the bringing of heathen to Christian families was really a more successful way of saving souls, than that of sending missionaries to the heathen, and that those in bondage were really better off than they could be in the state whereto they were born.
Rev. Peter Thatcher of Milton should have had knowledge on these points. Besides owning one Indian, body and soul, he was also a missionary, who preached the gospel to a neigh- boring tribe. Of his methods, and the result of his dealings with the latter, he is silent, but his method of dealing with the heathen in his own household is shown in his own words:
Aug. 18, 1679, came home and found my Indian girl had liked to have knocked my Theodora on head by letting her fall; whereupon I took a good walnut stick and beat the Indian to purpose, till she promised to do so no more.
It would be instructive to learn the outcome of Thatcher's home missionary work, but all search has been in vain. This child of nature disappears in the mist from which she emerged.
Peter Thatcher was a prominent man in his day and gen- eration. He attended the commencement exercises when John Williams was graduated, and the young student was
889
THE MINISTER AND THE TIMES.
probably personally acquainted with him, as he must also have been with many other men of note who bought and held negroes as slaves. He doubtless attended with all the country side the entertainment on Boston Common, September 22, 1681, which opened with the hanging of a white man and closed with the burning of two negroes.
Educated amid such surroundings, John Williams brought to Deerfield the habit, the conduct, the conscience of the metropolis as his guide; and we shall find him acting in ac- cordance therewith.
If such facts be humiliating to our pride, their considera- tion may help us to a correct estimate of the life, times and character of our ancestors.
The earliest evidence of negro slavery in Deerfield, is the following entry on the town records. It is in the column of deaths on the page devoted to the family register of Rev. John Williams :-
Robbert Tigo, Negro Servt to M' Jnº Williams died ye IIth day of May 1695.
Except this one great fact, we know nothing of Robert Tigo. Whether he was born into slavery in the chill Christian land of New England, or whether he was dandled upon the knee of a fond mother in freedom, on the hot sands of Africa, we may never know. Of his death there is honorable record ; and doubtless his master and pastor gave him Christian burial.
A few years later Mr. Williams was in a condition to have a closer sympathy with the countrymen of poor Tigo. He himself was a prisoner in the hands of a dark-skinned hea- then master, and doubtless the servants of Mr. Williams had in after years the benefit of this practical knowledge of human slavery.
Our next glimpse of slavery here is this record on the town book :-
Frank and Parthena, Mr Jnº Williams his negroes were joyned in Marriage by ye Reverend Mr Jnº Williams, June 4: 170-
The year of the century is gone. It was in the sunny month of June and probably 1703. It could not have been later. This record is not on the page where marriages were regu- larly entered, but stands by itself on the fly leaf of the vol- ume. If I am right in fixing the date of this marriage, the
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BELLS-CHARITIES-NEGRO SLAVERY-CHEAPSIDE.
very next one recorded is on the page devoted to marriages, and reads thus :-
Andrew Stevens and Elizabeth Price were joyned in marriage by ye Reverend Mr Jnº Williams December 6: 1703:
Andrew Stevens was an Indian, but he was allowed a place of honor on the book denied to Frank and Parthena.
Deacon Thomas French, painstaking town elerk of Deer- field,-could you have foreseen the events of the next three months-could you have seen the faithful Parthena giving her life in defence of the nurslings committed to her charge, and her young husband, tormented and butchered in mere wanton sport by a cruel, copper-colored crew-could you have seen your own baby murdered in cold blood-have heard the crackling flames as they climbed the roof tree and devoured the homes and household gods of yourself and kinsfolk- would you, when considering the problem of social distinction in Deerfield, still have given the Indian precedence over the African ?
We cannot say, but with his interpretation of the Bible the good man probably would ! We do know that in after years, while Thomas French was town clerk no marriage or death of a negro was officially recorded by him. We do know that Frank and Parthena find no place on the page where the death of Tigo is recorded with those of the wife and children of Parson Williams. Nor is their fate recorded elsewhere, save in the narrative of their master, to whom some credit must be given. Mr. Williams was not, however, so far in advance of his age as to see the cruel wickedness of human slavery. He probably thought it a blessed providence which brought the negroes from a heathen to a Christian land; that their spiritual gain far out-weighed their material loss; that their unrecompensed toil here was to be offset by a recompense of endless rest in glory. We have, however, no hint of the so- cial status usually assigned to negroes in the land of the blessed.
The slaves we next meet with are Mesheck and Kedar, also owned by Parson Williams, and inventoried in 1729, along with a "one eyed horse," a "weak backed cow," and other stock, as part of his estate. Mesheck was a mulatto; each was appraised at £80. Kedar is not again heard of, but Mesheck appears next in the hands of Col. and Rev. Ebenezer
891
MERCANTILE AFFAIRS.
Hinsdale, who married Abigail, daughter of Mr. Williams, soon after her father's death. Mesheck was doubtless part of her inheritance.
Mr. Hinsdale was ordained Dec. 11, 1732, as missionary to the Indians, and stationed at Fort Dummer. Here Mesheck was for eight years in the Colonial pay as servant to Mr. Hinsdale. Jan. 21, 1747, he was baptized by Rev. Jonathan Ashley and received into church fellowship at Deerfield. Perhaps Mesheck was converted by Missionary Hinsdale. If so, he is the only known fruit of his missionary work, for Hinsdale was not a success in that line. Mesheck was an important member of his master's family. The Colonel did a large mercantile business at Hinsdale, N. H., which town was founded and named by him, and also in Deerfield. His store here was in the house opposite my own. Mesheck seems to have conducted the business at one place while his master was at the other. In 1752 Mesheck had a personal ac- count at the store of Maj. Elijah Williams, which the book shows was squarely settled.
All that is known of the operations of my own ancestors in the slave market is shown in the following paper :-
Whare as wee Abiah Wolcot adminstratricks, and Mathew Allyn, adminstrator on the estate of Mr. Henry Wolcot, Esq. late of Winsor in the County of Hertford and Collony of Connectycut in New Eng- land, have recieved of Capt. Timothy Thrall as agent for Mr. John Sheldon of Dearefeield in the County of Hamsheier forty five pounds in Province bills.
Doee thare fore sell unto him the said John Sheldin a negro lad called Lundun of about forteen years of age by the best account we can come at, which sd negro rode behind sd John Sheldin towards Dearefield on the last day in March in the year 1710 which negro did belonge to sd Mr. Henry Wolcot and was parte of his estate. We thare fore the above named adminstratricks and adminstrator doee here by sell and confirme to the said John Sheldin his heaires and assignes, our whole right and titill to said negro lad, and also the right that any other person shall Legally make out, from, by, or under s' Mr. Henry Wolcott, as witness ouer hands & sealls hereun- to set this fifth day of Apriell 1710.
her
Abiah x Wolcot Adminstratricks mark
Signed and sealed in presence of Joseph Grant Samuel Gibbs Jr.
Math Allyn Admistrator
892
BELLS-CHARITIES-NEGRO SLAVERY-CHEAPSIDE.
Henry Wolcot, owner of Lundun, was born Jan. 6. 1643. and died Feb. 16, 1710. Probably Lundun was sold on a ver- bal contract, and the purchase money left with Captain Thrall to hand over when a legal title to the property could be ob- tained from authorized agents. Whether Capiain Sheldon bought Lundun on speculation or for home consumption does not appear. The chattel is not again heard from. The par- ties and witnesses to this transaction were of the most re- spectable. Wolcot was ancestor of many distinguished men. as was Samuel Gibbs, and the celebrated Gibbs Wolcot was of this combined blood. Grant was a collateral ancestor of General Grant. Allyn was cousin to the first wife of Parson Williams, and brother to the second wife. At his death in 1732, Capt. John Sheldon left as part of his estate seven slaves appraised as follows :-
Coffee his wife and child £130 80
Boy George
Boy Coffee 80
Boy Robbin 70
Girl Sue 60
There is a spark of humanity in putting Coffee, his wife and child in one lot. By that it would appear they were not to be parted. Whether the other boys and girl were of the same coffee plant we have no grounds for settling. None of these are again heard from.
It appears from the following deed that females of this kind of stock sold higher than males. While Lundun at fourteen brought £45. Kate, as we shall see, who was much younger, sold for nearly double that sum. She was brought from Connecticut to the Hatfield market and may have been of a rare breed :-
May 22, 1734 then I Samuel Kent of Suffield Innholder, for the consideration £89 in cash in hand paid to me, have sold, set over and Delivered to Capt. Israel Williams of Hatfield a Certain Negro Girl named Kate, aged about 8 or 9 years, which I hereby engage for me my hiers, executors and adminstrators to warrant to him, his hiers executors and administrators against the Lawful Claim, Chal- enge or Demand of any person or persons whatever, as witness my hand and Seal ye day abovesd
Signed Sealed and Delivered Samuel Kent
in presence of
Eleasz Porter Oliver Patridge John Pomroy
seal
893
CHURCH AND STATE.
Israel Williams, the buyer, was the well-known Col. Wil- liams noted as commander of our frontiers in the French and Indian wars, and later as Hatfield's leading Tory.
The year 1735 was that of the "Great Awakening" at Northampton under the preaching of Jonathan Edwards. The revival extended to the surrounding towns, and was not confined to the dominant race. Here five adult slaves were baptized and three admitted to the church in full communion. The church records showing that these chattels were recog- nized as brothers and sisters in the Lord, read as follows :
June 15, 1735 Adam servant to Justice Thomas Wells confessed ye sin of lewdness and Peter, his servant confessed the sin of lewd- ness and drunkenness and stealing and they were received into char- ity with people.
June 15, 1735 Pompey, servant to Justice Jona. Wells. Adam & Peter servants to Justice Thomas Wells assented to the Articles of ye xtain faith, entered into covenant & were baptised & Lucy sevent to Ebenezer Wells was baptised upon his account.
Of this Lucy we shall hear more anon. In a list of those taken into full communion we read :-
Aug. 29 1736 Pompey Negro & Rebecca his wife
Feb. 27, 1736-7 Cesar, servant to Ebenezer Wells
Nothing more is heard of the Christian chattels Adam and Peter, except what is found in the following extracts from the church records :-
Oct. 2 1738, Peter, Negro confessed the sin of Lewdness, of ex- cessive drinking & stealing & was restored to charity.
July 19, 1741 Adam Negro, confessed the sin of Lying & was re- stored to Xtian watch.
There were other Pompeys bèsides the one taken into the church in 1735. On the list of baptisms we read :-
Aug 16, 1741 Pompey sevent of Ebenezer Sheldon.
In 1750, Pompey, servant to Capt. Thomas Wells, had a personal account with Elijah Williams at the old corner store.
This last item and others like it show us something of the status of the slaves in the community. In many account books of the period there are running accounts kept with this semi-independent property. The negroes are generally charged with jackknives and brass shoe buckles, sometimes with powder. They either settled their accounts by cash or
894
BELLS-CHARITIES-NEGRO SLAVERY-CHEAPSIDE.
with "foxes." I do not recall one that is not balanced and square.
Cesar was also a common name among this class. Mary, widow of Ensign Jona. Wells, owned a Cesar, of whom we read :--
June 14, 1741 baptized Cesar sevant to Wid Mary Wells, he cove- nanting himself.
April 25, 1745, Cesar servant to the widow Mary Wells was ad- mitted to the communion.
It would be interesting to know if the personal relations of the two parties were changed by their religious fellowship. Did the black man sit at his mistress' table after they com. muned together at the table of the Lord? Did they, in fact. sit together then ?
Widow Mary Wells died Nov. 25, 1750. Her daughter Mary had married Timothy Childs, and " Aunt Sylvia" Munn told me they were considered the richest couple ever married in Deerfield. But their riches melted rapidly away, and En- sign Childs removed to Turners Falls, settling on the farm now owned by Timothy M. Stoughton. Probably Cesar fol- lowed the fortunes of Mary when she married Timothy Childs, for "Cesar servant of Timothy Childs" is recorded several times as a soldier in the French and Indian wars. What became of this faithful servant of two generations and soldier who fought in two wars? Mrs. Munn says that friends from Deerfield visiting the Childses at the Falls found a negro slave whom they had taken with them from Deerfield sick unto death, and lying in a cold shed, on a rickety bedstead. with scanty covering, and not even a bed of straw under him. with nothing between his body and the bed-cords but an empty bed-tick. So passed away the Christian soldier. How rarely will a full sense of responsibility keep pace with irre- sponsible power !
July 26, 1741 baptized Cesar servant to Lieut. Jona. Hoyt.
He also served as a soldier in the last French war, and in 1755 had an account at Capt. Williams's store. Still another Cesar, servant to Samuel Childs, served in the same war, and Col. Hinsdale furnished another for the same service. A Cesar who may or may not have been one of the above ap- pears below :-
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WHO PAID THE SCOT.
To Thomas Williams one of his Majesties Justices of the Peace for the County of Hampshire, John Williams of sd County, Gentleman, against Cesar a laborer, a servant of Nathaniel Dickinson of Deer- field aforesaid that on the last day of November A. D. 1771, he sd Cesar did at Deerfield aforesaid, feloniously take steal and carry away one gallon of West India Rum, of the value of four shillings Lawful money, the property of yr complainant and other enormities there and then did against the peace & contrary to law. Wherefore yr complainant prays that a warrant may issue against sd Cesar, that he may be apprehended and dealt with according to law & as in duty bound.
JOHN WILLIAMS.
Forthwith the imposing machinery of the law moves: -
Hampshire S.S. To the Sheriff of the County of Hampshire, his under sheriff, or Deputy, or either of the Constables of the Town of Deerfield Greeting
In his Majesty's Name you are commanded forthwith to apprehend the above named Cesar & him convene before me or some other Jus- tice of the Peace for sd County, to answer to the above complaint & that he may be dealt with according to Law.
Given under my hand & Seal at Deerfield the second day of De- cember A. D. 1771, & in the twelfth year of his Majesty's Reign.
Thomas Williams Justo Pace.
On this document is endorsed :-
Hampshire S.S. Dec. 3, 1771 In obedience to this writ I arrested the body of the within-named Cesar and have him before this Hon- orable Court for Trial.
JOHN RUSSELL, Constable of Deerfield.
Sheriffs fees for service
1-4
one assistant one day
4-
Two witnesses I day each
Titus negro 1-6
John Linsey
1-6
Compt & warrant
I-6
Entry &c.
3-4
Total I3-2
Threefold damages
12-
£1-5-2
Examined and allowed
THOMAS WILLIAMS Justo Pace.
So the majesty of the law was vindicated. The Thanks- giving lark was duly punished. But who paid the scot? The man or his chattel?
From the church record we read :-
Jany 16, 1778, married Cesar and Hager servents to Samuel Dick- inson.
June 22, 1787. Fortune, servant to Samuel Dickinson was bap- tized upon his mistress's account.
896
BELLS-CHARITIES-NEGRO SLAVERY-CHEAPSIDE.
As Samuel Dickinson never married, this "Mistress" was probably a woman to whom Fortune had been leased.
Titus was another favorite name for slaves. Besides the Titus who was probably entertained by Mr. Dickinson's Cesar on the Thanksgiving-day spree and was the witness at his trial, we find :-
June 22, 1737 Titus servant to John Wells, was baptized on his master's account.
In 1746, one Titus belonged to Samuel Barnard,
In 1754-7 "Titus, servant to Rev. Mr. Ashley " was serving as a soldier in the last French war. We do not find this man in connection with the church, save in the following entry, where the church seems to be called upon to aid in the gov- ernment of the disobedient slave of its minister :-
May 21, 1767. Titus, Negro, confessed the sin of Lying, Stealing & Disobedience to his Master.
Dec. 5, 1762. Baptized Titus, servant to Daniel Arms.
This sacred service did not prevent his being a valuable commodity, for in 1771 Daniel sold Titus to Jonathan Taylor, of Charlemont.
Jinny Cole, or simply Jin, as she was called, was a native of Guinea. By the tale she always told, she was daughter of a king in Congo, and when about twelve years old, she was one day playing with other children about a well, when they were pounced upon by a gang of white villains, and the whole party were seized and hurried on board a slave ship; "and" said Jin, "we nebber see our mudders any more." With a cargo made up by such exploits as this, these barbarians sailed for the wharves of Boston, where these children of nat- ure from the sunny sands of the tropies were sold as slaves for life to such Christian men and women as wanted this kind of stock and could pay the price; and it is not improbable that a "note was put up" by the owner in the next Sunday's service, giving thanks for the return of his vessel in safety from a prosperous voyage.
Three or four years after being kidnapped, Jin was bought at Boston, by Parson Ashley, and brought to Deerfield with a baby in her arms. Mrs. Ashley, her new mistress, only ten years older, was a daughter of William Williams, first minis- ter of Hatfield. She had just lost her first born, a baby of
897
JIN.
nine months, and doubtless she took kindly to the forlorn waif thus cast upon her care ; and it appears that both moth- er and child were treated kindly, and well cared for in old age.
In return Jin served her mistress faithfully and well, in household work, and in the care of her steadily increasing family. On the death of Mr. Ashley in 1780, Jin continued with the widow and her son. Dr. Elihu Ashley, and assisted in bringing up his family of children. But Jin was not con- tented. She could not forget her early life, its sunny days, her royal blood, and her cruel wrongs. And she fully expect- ed at death, or before, to be transported back to Guinea ; and all her long life she was gathering, as treasures to take back to her motherland, all kinds of odds and ends, colored rags, bits of finery, peculiar shaped stones, shells, buttons, beads, anything she could string. Nothing came amiss to her store. Jin does not appear on the church record either in baptism or church fellowship, but it is too much to suppose that she escaped the catechising of pious Parson Ashley. Sept. 1, 1808, at about the age of eighty-five, Jin fell down the cellar stairs at the house of the nearest neighbor, Thomas W. Dickinson, and broke her neck, "which," said Cato, " killed her as dead as a hammer." Thus ended a service to her mistress of sev- enty years. Madam Ashley survived Jin but three weeks, dying Sept. 20, at the age of ninety-five. It is an interesting incident that a few days before the tragic death of Jin, a neighbor found these two old crones and cronies sitting to- gether busily engaged in sewing, and chatting merrily over their work like children making dresses for their dolls. The work they had in hand proved to be a shroud for Jin.
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