African American
CT; MA, ca. 1780-1792
Free African-American Veterans & Poor Signed by William Williams in Late 18th C. New England
Archive

[AFRICAN AMERICAN.]
- Samuel Richards Jr., Partially Printed Document Signed, Receipt for Newport Hale, August 4, 1780, Hartford, Connecticut. 1 p., 7.25" x 6.75". Ragged right edge; very good.
- William Williams, Partially Printed Document Signed, Letters of Administration for Estate of Derry Howard to James Howard, December 28, 1782, Windham, Connecticut. 1 p., 7.5" x 10". Partial wax seal; small edge tears; minor toning.
- Manuscript Document, Account of William Moore with the Town of Boston, April-September 1792, Boston, Massachusetts. 3 pp., 7.75" x 12.5". Expected folds; light toning

This fascinating trio of documents illustrates the status of free African Americans in Connecticut and Massachusetts in the 1780s and 1790s. The first is a receipt for pay due to Connecticut African-American Revolutionary War soldier Newport Hale that was paid to Samuel Richards Jr. The second conveys letters of administration for the estate of Connecticut African-American soldier Derry Howard to James Howard. The third is an account by William Moore to the town of Boston for work he performed at the alms house and poor house. His account shows that he made coffins for at least four, and possibly five, African Americans who died in the almshouse in the five months covered by this account.

Excerpts
[Receipt:]
"RECEIVED, of Pay-Table-Committee, their Order on the Treasurer, of this State, to secure the Payment of thirty nine Pounds seven Shillings L Money it being the Balance due to me, on the first Day of January last, as stated by the Committees of the State and of the Army. Recd in behalf of Newport Hale.
"£39..7..— Saml Richards Junr."

[Letters of Administration:]
"To James Howard of Windham Greeting,
"WHEREAS, Derry Howard, Negro man a Soldier late of sd Windham, deceased, having while he lived, and at the Time of his Death, Goods, Chattles, Credits and Estate in sd District and has now lately died Intestate: By Virtue whereof the Power of Administration, and full Disposition of all and singular the Goods, Chattles, Credits and Estate of the said deceased; And also the bearing, examining, and allowing the Accounts of the Administration thereof appertains unto me: And I Being desirous that the Goods, Chattles, Credits and Estate of the said deceased should be well and truly Administered;
"I DO therefore (trusting in your Fidelity and Care) commit unto you the said James Howard full Power to administer the Goods, Chattles, Credits and Estate of the said deceased...."

[Account:]
"the town of Boston to William Moore Dr
"For work & stuff & sundry done at the work house & Alms house by order of the Honourable over seers of the Poor....
"[May] 11. To Do [a coffin] for Negro woman, state in Do [Alms house] 0.9.0....
"[May] 23. To Do [a coffin] for Negro man, State in Alms house 0.9.0....
"[June 3.] To Do [a coffin] for Febe Flocker Negro woman, state in Do [Alms house] 0.9.0....
"[June] 27. To a Coffin for Negro man, state in Alms house 0.9.0....
"[August] 16. To Do [a coffin] for a Child, brown, State in Do [Alms House] 9.0...."

Historical Background
Newport Hale was an African-American soldier who enlisted as a private in April 1777 in the 3rd Connecticut Regiment for the war. According to his service record, he deserted on January 27, 1779, but rejoined his regiment in April 1779, though he had been given a 20-day furlough on December 23, 1778. On July 5, 1780, members of the regiment sent the following order to the Committee of the Pay Table for Connecticut: "Please to issue to Saml Richards, Pay master of the 3d Connecticut Regt, orders on the Treasury for the balances respectively due to us the subscribers for service in the sd 3d Cont Regt up to the 1st day of January 1780, as per settlement; agreeable to an act of the General Assembly in that case provided." The amount by Newport Hale's name was 39..7..—, the amount Richards acknowledged receiving by signing this receipt.

Derry Howard enlisted as a private in Col. John Durkee's company in the 4th Connecticut Regiment in July 1780 for three years. The court-appointed administrator, James Howard (1753-1811), married Sarah Chaplin on December 4, 1782, in Windham, Connecticut.

William Moore was a laborer who did a variety of tasks for the Boston workhouse and almshouse, including building coffins for deceased residents. This account indicates that free African-American residents of the almshouse received the same type of coffin as white residents, though the account only rarely gives the name of a deceased resident. Boston built its first almshouse in 1660 and the second in 1686, after fire destroyed the first. It was a large two-story building intended for "the relief of the poor, the aged, and those incapacitated for labor." By 1790, the building held 300 inmates. Boston also had an independent workhouse, established in 1739 for "the accommodation of idle and vagabond persons, rogues, and tramps.

Around 1800, Josiah Quincy wrote, "The defects and insufficiency of the Boston Almshouse became the subject of earnest complaint soon after Massachusetts attained the rank of an independent state.... it was destitute of a separate hospital or infirmary; that persons of every age and character were lodged under the same roof; the sick disturbed by the noise of the healthy and the aged and infirm endangered and annoyed by the diseased and profligate." In 1801, Boston authorized the construction of a new almshouse on Leverett Street, but the new almshouse operated for only 25 years before being replaced.

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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