Eleven Names Project

  • The sentence of whipping immediately executed upon her

    1722: Sarah Boyce of Pembroke, “singlewoman” gave birth to “a bastard child” in 1716 and confessed that “Squire, a negro man, was the father”. The “court ordered her to be publically whipped 10 stripes and to pay fees and charges”.

  • Abraham: enticed to run away, then hidden

    1735: Benjamin Stockbridge claimed that James Hyland “enticed [his negro man servant] Abraham to run away with him and hid him from September to November 1732, and…refused to obey an order of the superior court in April 1734 to return [Abraham]”. Verdict for the plaintiff, appealed by the defendant.

  • John, branded with a B for burglary

    1686: “John Negro, Slave of Capt John Williams” of Scituate confessed to the burglary of “money, writings, and divers goods”. John was sentenced to stand on the gallows for 1 hour and be burnt in the hand with the letter B, as well as being required to pay for prosecution, imprisonment, and court fees.

  • Jo, whipped for fornication with Sarah Curtice

    1698: “Jo, an negro servant to William Holbrooke of Scituate was sentenced to be publicly whipped ten stripes for committing fornication with Sarah Curtice of Scituate as upon oath she affirmed. Sentence executed.”

  • Charles, the stowaway from Barbados

    1742: John Coshat/Corhatt, a minor of Plymouth (mariner), and Scipio, a negro slave belonging to Capt John Pickard, while visiting Carlisle Bay, Barbados, “did take and conceal on board the sloop Molly…a…negro man called Charles”, held in slavery by Benjamin Bissett.

  • Mariah Negro vs. Cornelius Briggs (Pt. 1)

    Mariah Negro vs. Cornelius Briggs (Pt. 1)

    Mariah Negro is an unsung founding mother of Massachusetts. Purchased in Boston as a child in 1673 by Scituate shipbuilder Walter Briggs, Mariah sued for the freedom of her daughter Molly who had been wrongfully imprisoned and enslaved by Cornelius Briggs.

  • Surre, “possessed of the divel”

    1730: Nicholas Litchfield sued Isreal Cowing for fraud. Cowing sold Litchfield a Negro man named Jack and a woman named Surre for £160, but Surre was never delivered. Cowing had promised to “deliver said Negroes well and in good order”.

  • Scipea’s clandestine lodging

    1753: Ruben Harlow “did entice and seduce Scipea a Negro man servant…to supply…Ruben with meat, drink, washing, and lodging in a secret and clandestine way at the house of…[Isaac] Thomas” of Plymouth.

  • The Dudley Family and their Enslaved People

    The Dudley Family and their Enslaved People

    Three of the four Dudley men venerated on the plaque at Roxbury’s Eliot Burial Ground were enslavers.

  • Dudleian Slavery in Roslindale

    Dudleian Slavery in Roslindale

    Thomas Dudley’s grandson William enslaved Quam, Peter, Caesar, and Flora in Roslindale.