Sale of Teenaged Slave Girl in Colonial Connecticut

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Source: University Archives https://www.universityarchives.com/auction-lot/sale-of-teenaged-slave-girl-in-colonial-connectic_51D4638A58 Slavery Norwich, CT, May 14, 1761 Sale of Teenaged Slave Girl in Colonial Connecticut MDS [SLAVERY.] Ebenezer Fitch, Manuscript Document Signed, Bill of Sale for slave Nancy, May 14, 1761, Norwich, Connecticut. 1 p., 8" x 11.875". Some small holes on folds, not affecting text; small separations on several folds; personal wax seal intact. This bill of sale records the transfer of the ownership of Nancy, a seventeen-year-old enslaved girl, from Ebenezer Fitch to his brother-in-law Isaac Huntington for £40. Isaac Huntington's brothers Elijah Huntington (1734-1814) and Benjamin Huntington Jr. (1736-1801) signed the document as witnesses. Benjamin Huntington Jr. served as Norwich town clerk from 1765 to 1801. Complete Transcript Know all Men by these Presents that I Ebenezer Fitch of Norwich in the County of Newlondon and Collony of Conneticut for the Consideration of Forty Pound Lawful money to me In hand Paid by Isaac Huntington Esqr of sd Norwich the Receipt Whereof I hereby Acknowledge I the sd Ebenezer Fitch Do therefore In consideration above I Do Bargain Sell & Convey unto him the sd Isaac Huntington Esqr and to his Heires and assigns one Carting Negro Girl Named Nancy of about Seventeen Years of Age a Slave to be the Property of him the sd Isaac Huntington Esqr his heirs & assigns During her Natural Life to have to hold Said Negro Slave as his onley Property & to sd only Benefits to him the sd Isaac Huntington Esqr his Heirs and assigns During her Natural Life as above sd and I the sd Ebenezer Fitch Do for my Self & my Heires Covenant and agree to and with the sd Isaac Huntington his Heires & assigns that I ame the Sole and Lawful owner of sd Negro Slave and that I have Good Right and Lawfull Authority to Bargin and Sell sd Slave In manner & Form above Written and Fothermore I the sd Ebenezer Fitch Do Bind my Self and my heirs to Warrant and Defend the sd Negro Slave unto him the sd Isaac Huntington Esqr and his heirs & assigns for Ever against all Lawfull Clames & Demands What Ever In Wittness Whereof I the sd Ebenezer Fitch have herby Sett my Hand & Seal the 14th Day of May AD 1761 Ebnezr Fitch [seal] Singned Seald In presents of Elijah Huntington Benj. Huntington [File Note on Verso:] Bill of Sale of Nancy Historical Background Slavery in Connecticut began in the seventeenth century and remained legal throughout the eighteenth century, but the state legislature acted to restrict it in the last quarter of the century. The colony prohibited the further importation of slaves in 1774. A decade later, in the wake of the Revolutionary War, the Connecticut General Assembly approved a plan of gradual emancipation by which all slaves born after March 1, 1784, would become free at age 25 for males and age 21 for females. If she were still alive and in Connecticut in 1784, this act would not have helped Nancy, who would have been around 40 when it was passed. In the mid-1770s, there were approximately 5,100 enslaved

Collection: University Archives — Bill of Sale Search

Time Period: Pre-1865 (Slavery Era)

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