1. Phillis Richmond and Tobey Cuff married in 1762. Each carried a surname, a very rare marker for enslaved people, one almost always reserved for free people. The couple was forced to live apart, as different families had enslaved them. Ms. Richmond’s enslaver also owned the three children of this marriage: Jethro, Silas and Katherine. Katherine died when she was eleven months old. Her mother, Phillis, died a few years later. No records exist on the rest of Tobey Cuff’s life or the life of his son Silas. It is possible that they were sold away or that the Brookline church records were a bit sloppy when recording the deaths of enslaved people.
Toby and Phillis’s son Jethro lived to become free and to marry Chloe Dole in Brookline in 1791.[1]
What a fine occasion that must have been! The only other mention of the couple in Brookline records appears in the Brookline church record that Jethro Cuff had died in Dorchester in 1838 at the age of sixty-four. No further information has (yet) been found for Chloe or Jethro, though it may exist in Dorchester documents.
What a fine occasion that must have been! The only other mention of the couple in Brookline records appears in the Brookline church record that Jethro Cuff had died in Dorchester in 1838 at the age of sixty-four. No further information has (yet) been found for Chloe or Jethro, though it may exist in Dorchester documents.
2. Kate Hill and Cuff married and were able to live together, as both were enslaved to Justice Samuel White.[2] They had three children: Jeremy, Lemon and Jethro. Cuff died of TB in 1764, aged 62. Kate lived a long life, dying of smallpox in 1790, aged 78. Their son Jeremy died when he was twenty-three, still slaving for Justice White. Nothing is known of their sons Lemon and Jethro.
In addition, records show two single parents who lived with their children, at least for some time.
Jack, who was thirty-six in 1721, was father to Jackey, his toddler son. Together they were enslaved to Dr. Zabdiel Boylston who carried out a risky, new experiment on them as well as on his own son Thomas. Dr. Boylston inserted smallpox pus into their arms in order to to see if this could prevent them from getting the full disease.[3] Dr. Boylston observed the three for six days, as they sickened with smallpox. They got only a mild form of the disease and recovered fully. Except for these six days, there are no records of either Jack or Jackey, though perhaps they exist in Boston.[4]
3 Slaves Helped Save Thousands→
Dinah was the other single enslaved parent in Brookline records, owned by the Reverent John Allen, Brookline’s first minister. Dinah’s daughters Venus and Violet, lived enslaved with her. Only one small small piece of their three lives is known: all three were baptized in 1741, when Dinah feared she was dying.
In addition, records show two single parents who lived with their children, at least for some time.
Jack, who was thirty-six in 1721, was father to Jackey, his toddler son. Together they were enslaved to Dr. Zabdiel Boylston who carried out a risky, new experiment on them as well as on his own son Thomas. Dr. Boylston inserted smallpox pus into their arms in order to to see if this could prevent them from getting the full disease.[3] Dr. Boylston observed the three for six days, as they sickened with smallpox. They got only a mild form of the disease and recovered fully. Except for these six days, there are no records of either Jack or Jackey, though perhaps they exist in Boston.[4]
3 Slaves Helped Save Thousands→
Dinah was the other single enslaved parent in Brookline records, owned by the Reverent John Allen, Brookline’s first minister. Dinah’s daughters Venus and Violet, lived enslaved with her. Only one small small piece of their three lives is known: all three were baptized in 1741, when Dinah feared she was dying.
Notes and Citations
[1] Vital Records of Brookline, (Salem: Newcomb & Gauss Co). Based on church, town, cemetery and private records.
[2] Kate Hill may have been a descendant of the Indigenous Hill family, who lived for several generations in Brookline. The Vital Records are unclear whether Hill’s husband’s name was Cuff or Epharim.
[3] Zabdiel Boylston, An Historical Account of the Small-pox Inoculated in New England, London, 1726. Boylston inoculated one more in this experiment, his own son Tommy, as Boylston wanted to know if people of different ages and races would respond differently to the inoculation. Smallpox had just returned to Boston, putting Tommy at great risk.
[4] In the early 1720’s, Dr. Boylston was living and practicing medicine in Boston. He returned to Brookline, when he inherited the family home. He is also buried in Brookline.
[2] Kate Hill may have been a descendant of the Indigenous Hill family, who lived for several generations in Brookline. The Vital Records are unclear whether Hill’s husband’s name was Cuff or Epharim.
[3] Zabdiel Boylston, An Historical Account of the Small-pox Inoculated in New England, London, 1726. Boylston inoculated one more in this experiment, his own son Tommy, as Boylston wanted to know if people of different ages and races would respond differently to the inoculation. Smallpox had just returned to Boston, putting Tommy at great risk.
[4] In the early 1720’s, Dr. Boylston was living and practicing medicine in Boston. He returned to Brookline, when he inherited the family home. He is also buried in Brookline.