Collect Day #40, BLACK WILL
O God, you care for all your children and you give us talents to help us improve our lives and the lives of those around us; we thank you for the life and witness of Black Will, who achieved much for so many despite enslavement and difficulties; help us follow his good example of perseverance, strength, courage and compassion by seeking not only our own benefit but also that of our friends and neighbors; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Daniel Minter, artist
DAY #40, April 20, 2019
KITTERY, MAINE
BLACK WILL (? – died c. 1727)
Patricia Q. Wall
New research on the original Parish of Kittery – an area that included upper Kittery (now Eliot) and the Berwicks – has revealed at least 500 Blacks, most enslaved at some time living there in the 1600s. Only a very few of them appear in history’s light with more than a strobe flash – a mere word or two. Most brightly lit, however, is the story of Black Will (aka, William Black).
Records first mention enslaved Will in 1682 when he was inherited by Jonathan Shapleigh from the upper Kittery estate of Maj. Nicholas Shapleigh and then soon loaned to Nicholas’ widow, Alice, for her lifetime.
At that time Will already was living independently on three acres of Shapleigh land which had been set aside for his use. In addition to farming, he also earned money doing odd jobs in the community. It is unknown if Will’s owner ever demanded a portion of his earnings (a common practice), but over the next fourteen years he managed to save £25. In 1696, while still enslaved, he purchased 100 acres of upper Kittery farmland – an occurrence unique for Maine and perhaps for New England at the time.
Will finally was granted his freedom in 1701. By then, he probably was well settled on his farm with his eleven-year-old son, Will, Jr., a child born of a brief, legally forbidden affair with a White woman.
From then on, records merely hint at his life’s progress: achieving at least moderate business success; serving in the militia during Indian raids; welcoming other Blacks to settle on or near his property, creating the first Black community in Maine; and passing along his 100 acres to his family.
One occurrence clearly marks him as a man of compassion and courage. In 1708, seven years after gaining his own freedom, Will sought freedom for his friend and neighbor, Tony (Anthony Freeman).
Tony’s owner, Charles Frost, one of the richest men in Maine, could have posted the legally required £50 bond to free Tony, but instead, Frost insisted Will sign a provisional mortgage against all his property to guarantee that Will would have to assume continuous financial and legal responsibility for Tony.
Will gave his friend two acres of land with Tony’s promise to purchase them when he could, a promise Tony was never able to keep. Still, Frost’s ‘Damocles’ mortgage was never activated.
For more detail on William Black and others, see Lives of Consequence: Blacks in Early Kittery & Berwick in the Massachusetts Province of Maine, by Patricia Q. Wall. (Portsmouth Marine Society Press, Portsmouth, NH 2017).
