Description:

African American
Norwich, CT, ca. 1790
Free African American Sued for Debt in 1790 Connecticut
Various
[AFRICAN AMERICAN.] Pomp Sailes, Manuscript Document Signed with a Mark, Promissory Note to Asa Lathrop, January 19, 1790, Norwich, Connecticut. 2 pp., 6.5" x 3.75". General toning.
- Benjamin Huntington Jr., Partially Printed Document Signed, Summons of Pomp Sailes, March 25, 1790, Norwich, Connecticut. 2 pp., 8.5" x 6.5". General toning; irregular edges.
- Benjamin Huntington Jr., Autograph Document Signed, Order in Lathrop v. Sailes, April 29, 1790, Norwich, Connecticut. 1 p., 8" x 8". Expected folds; general toning.

These three documents come from the life of free African American Pomp Sailes in Norwich, Connecticut. They deal with a lawsuit instituted by shoemaker Asa Lathrop to collect a debt Sailes owed him. Sailes had signed a promissory note for £2..5..2 on January 19, 1790, and when he failed to pay, Lathrop sued him. When both men appeared before Justice of the Peace Benjamin Huntington Jr. on April 29, 1790, Huntington ruled that Sailes had to pay Lathrop £2..5..9 and 13 shillings in court costs.

Excerpts
[Promissory Note:]
"Value Received I Promis to Pay to Asa Lathrop or his order The Sum of Two Pounds five shilling and Five Penc Lawfull Money on Demand With Interest untill Paid As Witness my Mark Pomp Sailes X"

[Summons:]
"To the Sheriff of the County of New London his Deputy, or either of the Constables of the Town of Norwich within said County, Greeting.
"By Authority of the State of Connecticut, you are hereby commanded to summon Pomp Sailes of sd Norwich a free Negro To appear before Benjamin Huntington junr. Esq: a Justice of the Peace for said County at his Dwelling-House in sd Norwich on the 29 Day of April next at 2 o'clock in the noon. Then and there to answer unto Asa Lathrop of Norwich aforesd In a plea of the Case, whereupon the Plaintiff declares and says, that the Defendant, in an[d] by a certain Writing or Note, under his Hand, by him well executed, dated the 19th Day of January Anno Domini, 1790 promised the Plaintiff to pay to him for value received, the sum of Two pounds five shillings and two pence Lawfull money on demand with interest till paid...."

[Order:]
"The parties appeard. the Defendt in Court Exhibited his plea in abatement as on file, to which, the Plaintif demurred, and the Court having heard the parties on their pleas and allegations and consider'd thereof is of opinion that the Defendants plea in abatement in insufficient and said action is ordered to proceed: Thereupon the Defendt in Court Pleads that he did not assume in Manner and form as the Plaintif in his Declaration hath alledged and thereof puts himself on the Court for Trial, and the Plaintif in like manner put himself on the court as pr pleas on file: And this Court having heard the parties on their Evidence pleas and allegations and considered therof find that the Defendt did assume in manner and form as the plantif in his Declaration hath alledged therefore it is Considered by this Court that the Plantif Recover of the Defendt the sum of £2..5..9 Debt and his Cost taxed thirteen shillings and that Exn go forth accordingly."

Historical Background
As slavery waned in Connecticut under the provisions of a 1784 gradual emancipation act, the number of free blacks in the state grew. In 1790, 2,764 enslaved persons remained in Connecticut. The number declined to 951 in 1800, 97 in 1820, 25 in 1830, and 17 in 1840. In 1844, then Governor Roger Sherman Baldwin proposed legislation to end slavery, but the General Assembly did not pass it until it was reintroduced in 1848. That act freed the six remaining slaves in the state.

In 1800, there were approximately 5,330 free blacks in Connecticut. However, many were little better off as free people than they had been in slavery. They could testify in court and own property, but their socioeconomic status remained poor. Although theoretically, free blacks who owned sufficient property could vote, an 1818 state law specifically denied them the right to vote. Only after the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in 1870 could African Americans vote in Connecticut.

Many African Americans in Connecticut lived in cities, where they formed separate communities in poor neighborhoods and held low-paying jobs. Few could afford the property necessary to prosper as farmers; most in rural areas worked as field hands.

Asa Lathrop (1755-1835) was born in Norwich, Connecticut, and became a shoemaker. In 1780, he married Elizabeth Lord (1757-1805), and they had at least eight children.

Benjamin Huntington Jr. (1736-1801) was born in Norwich in 1736, the son of Isaac Huntington, though he was referred to as Jr. after his uncle Benjamin Huntington (1736-1800), who was a graduate of Yale College and represented Connecticut in the Continental Congress and the First Federal Congress. Benjamin Huntington Jr. succeeded his father and uncle as clerk of the town of Norwich, serving from 1765 to 1801 (with a one-year gap in 1778-1779).

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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