Notes from Cranston Walking Tour--Diversity in Wicky (8/17/24)

21-22% of southern RI population are slaves during pre evolutionary period 

13 families owned from Wickford to westerly

700-2500 acre farms

Mixed race Narragansett and Africans

North ferry

Vacant Naragansett land redistributed after king Phillips war 

50% of indigenous…

30-35% of whites…

Killed in king Phillips war 

Tribes cannot be allowed to reconstitute 

Natives rounded up and taken to Colonial capitals to be tried in judgment, trial 

Trials led to 

1. hanging/executions, 
2. people shipped to Caribbean (25% of Caribbean population ultimately), 
3. old people, women, children left (1000 or so) made into indentured servants, 7 or so years working for colonists, given to the 13 families who were sent over from Newport to take over the land. Phillips war was about land. Indentured people were made into slaves to Narragansett planters to transform the land. No men. Only men around. We’re existing slaves who were already working for planters 

Roger Williams capitulated and played a role in the process after the war of distributing the remaining Indians 

Hazard (whites and blacks)

Planter world was smiths castle to westerly

Church was built by planters, located out near slocum, for themselves, Anglicans 

A little bit of Virginia right in Rhode Island 

Hannah Robinson, fell in love with her French dance instructor, emblematic of the period (look into this)

Planters very connected to the Newport business class who wanted to keep them happy because they were supplying them with wood and beef and cheese etc

First ministers: 

Christopher bridge

James MacSparran

Enslaved folks and white folks all went to church 

Box pews in church, subscription, covered the cost of the minister, slaves and servants in the gallery on the top 

There were manacles on the slave benches to make sure the slaves didn’t try to get away while at church 

James Macsparran had slaves as well 

Journals/diary 

“Wandering slave”: not at work, never on the job 

Macsparrans slave was wondering off to see a woman he loved on another plantation 

Updike and Cranston both have wandering slaves, they decide to swap their wandering slaves, they broke up a marriage, (this is discussed in the Updike chronicles)

Narragansett/blacks 

Black Richard Thomas—fish monger in Wickford. There were two guys with the same name. White Richard was a merchant 

Wickford was a place where almost everyone went to sea: many black mariners went to sea. 

Free blacks were allowed opportunities where they interacted with the white population on the regular due to necessity—so many men went to sea. There were opportunities for black people in wicky that you would not have found elsewhere 

Emmanuel came house, blue house on corner of gold st.back wing was for slaves 

In NE slaves were kept in the houses and often if there wasn’t a wing to house them in like the Case house they would live in the attics of houses 

Everything in RI was connected to slavery

March 1784: law passed, children born to slaves are born free…but since the parents were still slaves the kids were still indentured to their parents owners until they were 18, men, 21, women 

A law was never passed making slavery illegal 

Later laws said if slave owners die their slaves are freed 

Census data: 

1810 still 100 or more slaves in RI

1820

1830

1840: handful of slaves left in ri

1850: two left

Last slave in RI died in 1855. Master lived to be 100, the slave died before the master, lived in Jamestown: James Howland, imagine anti slavery campaigns in RI when there was still a slave here 

Probably the last slave in the north

You can visit his tombstone in RI? 

Naming slaves—not the right of a mother; names were given by masters to show control over slave. Would pick names that would make them feel bad, biblical names, Greek gods or royalty… 

Names: Caesar, prince, king, handsaw (slave of willet carpenter),

Toby (masters hunting dogs name, dog had died recently), Samuel Sambo (Tsambo, Swahili word for monkey—used by slavers who worked the slave trade); Nathaniel onion (son of Jonny onion); Thankful Onion (Nathaniel’s sister); onion name was given cause he was the guy who would peel the onions; after emancipation proclamation thankful onion changed her name to thankful union 

Runaway slave notices in the Newport mercury—there is a book about this and Tim is reading it now 

Chofay slave who ran away 

Phoebe browning had three slaves who ran away, rose, Nancy, Jenny is a wench 

Lodowick Updike: his slave Dimis has a pass to walk around 

After 1815 hurricane, houses were decimated on pleasant and Washington st. And for a generation folks were afraid to rebuild; eventually small houses sprung up to house people who worked for people in large houses 

Slaves often changed their names when they were made freed 

Black men who owned houses in Wickford…they were mariners. 

Agriculture in the north with short seasons meant that there was nothing g for slaves to do; you want your investment to pay off so in NE men who were agricultural slaves were taught a trade or skill so you could continue to make money off them when there was no farm work

Brick layer helpers, carpenters, cut gravestones, making chicolate out of cocoa; in Wicky most black men were made mariners; they were at sea if not working fields so always making their owners money 

Quakers came to RI in south county to buy slaves to free them

Mariner slaves had a skill for when they were freed so they could amass some wealth and perhaps buy a house in wicky; these men were known and so allowed to own real estate (women too).

At least 23 black sailors out of Wickford that Tim has identified 

Watching birds dive at the water for fish…