Author Archive
An advertisement for the sale of enslaved Africans from the Gold Coast in Newport, Rhode Island, 1763.
We are excited to announce that we have published the Newport, RI: Records of Enslaved, Free, and Manumitted People of Color and Enslavers (17th – 19th Centuries) database to add 12,786 names and 11,827 records to the 10 Million Names Project.
In 2021, the Newport Historical Society (NHS), located in Newport, Rhode Island, set out to move the enslaved, manumitted, and free people of color who lived in Newport between the 17th and 19th centuries from the margins of its collections to the center. In four years, the Voices From the NHS Archives research initiative has grown from a spreadsheet cataloging references to people of color in the NHS manuscript collection to an interactive database and research tool that includes 5,600 digitized documents, over a dozen biographical histories, and records for more than 1,800 named people of African and Indigenous descent.
This database includes records for people African and Indigenous descent who were connected to Newport, Rhode Island, and the surrounding area—either through their presence in the town or through their enslavement and transport on voyages funded by Newport merchants—between roughly 1663 and 1865.
Data on enslaved, free and liminal status persons were drawn from a broad range of archival documents from the collection of the NHS. Materials include records from six religious groups, early colony censuses, family papers, merchants’ records, institutional records from Black-led organizations, legal and land evidence documents, and ship logs, among others.
This database is presented as part of the 10 Million Names Project. To learn more about 10 Million Names, please visit the project website. Thank you to Newport Historical Society for kindly donating the data used in this project.
Please note: This database is available to all NEHGS members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
We are excited to announce that we have published the Massachusetts: Biographical Entries of People of African Descent in New Bedford and Coastal Towns Also Once Part of Dartmouth (Westport, Dartmouth, and Fairhaven) database to add 12,501 names, 405 pages, and 6504 records to the 10 Million Names Project. This database consists of one volume (Surnames A-D), and additional volumes will be added in the coming months.
Historian Kathryn Grover, author of The Fugitive’s Gibraltar: Escaping Slaves and Abolitionism in New Bedford, Massachusetts, compiled biographical entries of every person indicated as a person of color in New Bedford and historic Dartmouth (that is, Westport, Dartmouth, and Fairhaven) through 1860. New Bedford was considered a major whaling port during the 19th century, as well as a significant stop on the Underground Railroad. Many freedom seekers settled there after escaping enslavement.
This database is presented as part of the 10 Million Names Project. To learn more about 10 Million Names, please visit the project website. Thank you to Kathryn Grover for kindly donating the data used in this project, and to the many volunteers who indexed the entries and helped make this database possible.
Please note: This database is available to all NEHGS members, including Guest Members, at no cost. Consider membership.
We are excited to announce that we have collaborated with the Godfrey Memorial Library of Middletown, Connecticut to add 50 records with the Godfrey Memorial Library: Middletown, CT Manumissions, 1774-1823 database as part of American Ancestors’ 10 Million Names initiative. These records were compiled during 2020 and 2021 by Albert Fiacre, Terry Latimer and Diane Reid. Please visit their website to learn more about their work.
All the records in this study were taken from the Middletown land records. The earliest manumission found was in 1774 while the latest one was in 1823. Only one purchase/sale of an enslaved person was found. It was quite possible that other means were used in slave manumissions such as court records. This effort focuses exclusively on land records.
As can be seen in the documents, the typical process in the emancipation of an enslaved person was first to have the Selectmen of Middletown certify that an enslaved person could be set free and then for the enslaver to record the emancipation on the land records. Many of the documents make reference to the “Abolition Act” and the desire to cooperate with the sentiments of that Act.
This watercolor from the American War of Independence is by Jean Baptiste Antoine de Verger (1762-1851). The watercolor shows the variety of soldiers fighting for American independence, depicting, from left to right, a black soldier of the First Rhode Island Regiment, a New England militiaman, a frontier rifleman, and a French officer. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
We are excited to announce that we have collaborated with the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) to add 7114 records with the Daughters of the American Revolution: Patriots of Color, 1712 – 1888 database as part of American Ancestors’ 10 Million Names initiative. This data comes from decades of DAR research that culminated in the creation of their Patriots of Color Database in 2021. The database is part of the DAR E Pluribus Unum Educational Initiative, which seeks to highlight the stories of underrepresented Patriots and increase access to historical and genealogical resources surrounding the lives of people of color and women in the American Revolution. The DAR Patriots of Color Database can be found here.
This database encompasses a less-examined aspect of the American Revolution: the Black, Native American, and mixed-descent participants. For the patriots that can be found here, the information available is extremely varied and comes from many diverse sources. There were both free Black and enslaved Patriots, and these entries sometimes only include a first name, or a first name and their enslaver’s last name as parenthetical information. Native American participants may be listed under their indigenous names and their tribal affiliation will be provided when known. These entries cover the original thirteen colonies as well as some of the frontier areas, such as the “Old Northwest,” which encompasses most of the Great Lakes region.
Please note: Please Note: This database is available to all NEHGS members, including Guest members, at no cost. Consider membership.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact our Database Volunteer Coordinator, Zobeida, at zobeida.chaffee-valdes@nehgs.org.
We are excited to announce that we have added a new database: American Offshore Whaling Crew Lists, 1799-1927 to our collection. This database is comprised of 6082 names and records and is searchable for given names and surnames, and includes port and voyage information.
This database includes information about all known American offshore (or “pelagic”) whaling voyages from the 1700s to the 1920s. The voyages included in the database sailed from, or were under the registry of, what is now the United States. A voyage was defined to be complete when the vessel returned to its port of departure or registry. This database includes crew lists from four New England ports: Fall River, MA, New Bedford, MA, Salem, MA, and New London, CT.
This database is the result of a partnership with the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Mystic Seaport Museum, and the Nantucket Historical Association. Their joint work on whaling history can be found here.
Please Note: This database is available to all NEHGS members, including Guest members, at no cost. Consider membership.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact our Database Volunteer Coordinator, Zobeida, at zobeida.chaffee-valdes@nehgs.org.