Notes on Norwell (& Scituate)
Mariah Negro vs. Cornelius Briggs
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.
The Sylvester Family, Slavery, and Early Civil Rights Activism in Norwell, Massachusetts
Activism and pushing for full citizenship is a Sylvester tradition, especially amongst Sylvester women.
Norwell’s Lemuel Freeman Integrated White Civil War Units
Scituate man Lemuel Freeman was an African American man who enlisted in a white Civil War regiment months before the formation of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry.
Meet Venus Manning of South Scituate, Massachusetts
Venus Manning was likely born into slavery in Scituate, Massachusetts. She eventually became one of the wealthiest single women in what is now Norwell and used her money to fund abolitionist causes.
“My two boys. . .whome I obtained with my sword and my bow.”
In a November issue of my newsletter, I highlighted the 1695 probate file of “Will Indian.” I noted that this was the earliest-indexed probate file of a non-white decedent in the three Plymouth Colony counties. So why was Will participating in English legal and property ownership systems?
StoryMap: North River Early Black Heritage Trail
An incomplete collection of sites organized around the North River of Massachusetts and the “Old Scituate” communities of Scituate, Hanover, and Norwell. The 13 sites feature Revolutionary and Civil War vets, contradictory judges, a free Black community, a Black abolitionist, a freedom suit, and local slaveholders.
Introduction to Slavery in Massachusetts
An approachable collection of videos, books, talks, podcasts, articles, and links. A sort of self-directed syllabus.
Eleven Names Project 