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Joseph Whiting’s inventory, 1717

2 Large Cow £8, 2 smaller cows £6/50

1 Heifer £35/ Horse £9/,

3 pigs £24

A negro boy £53 pounds

A girle £45 pounds

This is Jack

Ancestry.com. Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data:Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.

This document is from the inventory of Joseph Whiting. Jack was enslaved by Joseph Whiting in 1717 when Whiting died. This entry appears at the end of his inventory which is where we usually find the record of people who were enslaved alongside that of the animals in the barn. From the church records we know that Jack was born in 1696. Here he is listed as a boy and he would have been 21 years old.

The record shows he was valued at 53 pounds which is the equivalent of about $12,000 today. You can see a girl listed here as well. She is valued at 45 pounds. You can think about why the white men who were the appraisers would have valued her differently than Jack.

It is also worth noting the other script on the page. You can see it transcribed on the bottom of the page.

2 Large Cow 8, 2 smaller cows 6/50

1 Heifer 35/ Horse 9/,

3 pigs 24

When the people are listed next to the animals like this it makes me think that’s where the appraisers found them and so I then imagine that Jack lived in the barn.

As you think about the information in this document, consider how this information is both humanizing and dehumanizing.

This is part of the same document with Jack on the previous slide

https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/9049/007627903_01206?pid=1496165&backurl=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid%3D9049%26gsfn%3DJoseph%26gsln%3Dwhiting%26hc%3D50%26_89004261__date%3D1717%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26uidh%3D6a4%26redir%3Dfalse%26msT%3D1&usePUB=true#?imageId=007627903_01229

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Captain Joseph Whiting Addition to the inventory 1725 ( father of Col John Whiting )

By maintaining Jack negro servant with victuals, drink, clothing and attendants in sickness from October 1718 to this day .

By a homemade blanket and cot for Jack

By money paid doctor … for Jack .. his account

By 4½ yards Jersey for Jack a coat

Jack would have been 29 years old and enslaved by John Whiting at this point

Ancestry.com. Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data:Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.

This document is part of the inventory as well and it was added on in 1725. It took a long time to settle the estates of people who had a lot of money.

This document affirms that that person called a negro boy in the inventory was Jack.

After the inventory was certified, it seems that Jack was sick. It seems like he couldn’t work and the estate of Joseph Whiting had to pay to keep him - that is, Jack could not work for him in a way that they felt paid for his room and food and clothing. This entry says By maintaining Jack negro servant with victuals (food) drink, clothing and attendants in sickness from October 1718 to this day.

If you keep reading, the estate also paid for a homemade blanket and cot for Jack, for money paid for a doctor for jack and for 4 ½ yards of cloth to make a coat for Jack.

This makes me wonder who was taking care of Jack. Was it Joseph Whiting’s widow Anna who took care of Jack - she did not die until 1735. and know that she died in New Haven, but not much about what happened to her.

Or was it John Whiting and his wife Jerusaha?

Is this document humanizing or dehumanizing?

https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/9049/007627903_01206?pid=1496165&backurl=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid%3D9049%26gsfn%3DJoseph%26gsln%3Dwhiting%26hc%3D50%26_89004261__date%3D1717%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26uidh%3D6a4%26redir%3Dfalse%26msT%3D1&usePUB=true#?imageId=007627903_01216

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Captain Joseph Whiting - Addition to the inventory 1725

(father of Col John Whiting)

Ancestry.com. Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data:Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.

This document is also a 1725 addition to the inventory of 1717 with more information about Jack. We found out that jack was sick previously and it seemed like he couldn’t work. By 1725, the Whitings feel like the amount he was appraised for 54 pounds was too much for a sick man.

So they call the appraisers back and say you can’t value him at 53 pounds - he is worth 15 pounds.

The document says “By a negro under such cirucnstances as he, is become worse than nothing appraised in this inventory.”

Then it says Allowed the widow - 38 pounds -

So the end point is, his value is 15 pounds.

So it makes me think about whether Jack had a disability - had he lost a limb? Did he have a physical disability that made it so he could not work? What would it take to call a doctor to his bedside?

It also makes me think about resistance in slavery. And daily resistance can take many forms. Some historians say a way to resist was to be sick. This is not to devalue what had happened to Jack - whatever it was, but could he have used that to find a path in his life that was less difficult?

What happened to those who could not work? And was Jack ever able to work? Might he have become a driver? What other jobs might he have done if he wasn’t so mobile?

We can’t know this because the documents are so few but it makes us think about what happened in this community of farming and living outdoors where accidents did happen. Greenville died falling from a horse, Jacob Merrill died falling on a pitchfork.

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Church records 1764

West Hartford Church Records; Vol 3, p. 351

This document is the first way we learned about Jack.

Mortification - is gangrene

It says Col. - Colonel - which refers to John Whiting, had negro servant Jack (meaning he enslaved him) and he died on sunday, April 29 1764 when he was 68 years old.

It is surprising to me that the person who recorded his death knew his age. He was born in 1696. Why is that surprising? Think about where he might have been born, and think about one of the cruelest parts of slavery, being separated from parents and family. Think about who told you how old you are, and how that record is kept.

In the original church record to the right which people at the Noah Webster house transcribed, it said he died of mortification Today we would say that is gangrene of necrotic tissue. This means the tissue maybe in his hands or feet died because they weren’t getting blood - this is often caused by an infection. Knowing the cause of death means someone was with him when he died. I wonder who that was.

We access this document through Ancestry.com. All of the church records starting in the 1730s are written here, organized by the white person’s last name -here Whiting - and then their first name. At the end of the listing is a section which says People without a surname (last name) where we can find information about free people of African descent.

The church kept track of baptisms, marriages, deaths and church and town business like being a moderator, paying taxes, giving land to the town and building a new school.

This record is a bit confusing because John Whiting was known as Col. John Whiting and the transcriber of the records listed information related to him at the end of the section on whitings rather than under John.

Near Jack’s record you can see the record of two other enslaved people, Dinah who died in 1760 at age 50 and a child who died at 1 month 6 days in December 1766, after JOhn Whiting died and he was enslaved by Widow Jerusha Whiting.

What about this record humanizes Jack and what part dehumanizes her?

https://www.tullyhistoricalsociety.org/tahs/medical.php

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Born

listed under “stock,”

“negro boy £53,”

Joseph Whiting’s inventory

Jack’s Timeline

Toiled and lived on North Main Street

Dies from mortification

(gangrene)

1696

1717 - 18

4/29/1764

Addendum to inventory

a homemade blanket and cot for Jack

money paid Doctor Brace for Jack

4½ yards Jersey for Jack a coat

maintaining Jack negro servant with victuals, drink, clothing and attendants in sickness from October 1718 to this day (1725)

“a negro under such circumstances as he is become worse than nothing.”

Jack valued in this inventory at £15.0.0

1725

Where did Jack sleep?

Did Jack have a family?

How did Jack get better?