Slavery and Indentured Servitude in 1689 New Hampshire: An Unexpected Surprise
Reuben Hull: 1642-1689
In May 2020, I was reading Toni Morrison’s A Mercy, a novel about slavery and
indentured servitude in colonial America during the 1690s. The novel showed
that under even the best of masters and circumstances, involuntary servitude of
any type or length damaged the human spirit. To my shock and horror, my
genealogical research that same month revealed that one of my ancestors, my
eighth-great-uncle Reuben Hull, owned two black slaves and an indentured
servant at the time of his death in 1689. Morrison’s novel was coming to life
in my own family tree in a very unexpected way.
Reuben Hull was born in Massachusetts in 1642 to my eighth-great-grandfather
Rev. Joseph Hull and his second wife Agnis Hunt Hull. The family moved
frequently due to Rev. Hull’s conflicts with church hierarchy and his
congregants. Rev. Hull actually left the colonies and returned to England for
over a decade around 1648. Since Reuben was quite young, he probably traveled
with his parents to Cornwall. The family returned to New England around 1662
when Reuben was twenty, settling in the Isle of Shoals area of what is now New
Hampshire.
Living so near the ocean, many colonists would build or
acquire ships to use for trade and transport of goods. Reuben acquired the
title of “captain”, probably from his owning such a ship as a young man. Reuben
married Hannah Fernside or Ferniside in 1672. The couple lived in the New
Hampshire port town of Portsmouth. As a resident of Portsmouth, Reuben was
exposed to the slave trade. According to the website Slavery in the North, “African slaves were noted in New Hampshire
by 1645. They concentrated in the area around Portsmouth. Furthermore, as one
of the few colonies that did not impose a tariff on slaves, New Hampshire
became a base for slaves to be imported into America then smuggled into other
colonies. Every census up to the Revolution showed an increase in black
population, though they remained proportionally fewer than in most other New
England colonies.”
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| Fort William and Mary at the Mouth of Portsmouth Harbor circa 1700 |
On December 24, 1674, John Cutt, eventual president of the
New Hampshire colony and wealthy and influential Portsmouth resident, made a
gift of land to Reuben and Hannah. According to several family history sources,
“on that date his brother in law, Mr. John Cutt, in consideration stated to be
‘love and affection’ for his kinsman Reuben Hull and Hannah his wife, conveyed
to him a lot of land in Portsmouth, with right of way to obtain water from a
well which Reuben Hull had already dug on land of the grantor. By same deed Mr.
Cutt conveys to Reuben Hull a wharf and privilege on the river.” While Cutt is
identified in these accounts as Reuben’s brother-in-law, I find no evidence
that either man married the other’s sibling. While their actual relationship is
unclear, it was obviously very close to warrant such an extravagant gift.
Following Mr. Cutt’s death in 1681, Reuben Hull was named guardian of Cutt’s
oldest son.
It is important to note that the Cutt family made much of
their wealth in trade with the West Indies, where slavery was in use and slaves
were often among the goods exchanged in such trade relationships. Perhaps
Reuben was also involved in West Indies trade and purchased his two slaves
there or acquired them as payment for goods.
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| View of Portsmouth NH in 1770, a century later... |
Reuben and Hannah had six children between 1673 and 1688. During
this time period, he made good use of the land and wharf privileges he
received, becoming a successful trader. Shockingly, Reuben died December 3,
1689 at the young age of 47. His oldest son and chief heir, Joseph, was only 13
years old, hardly able to take over his father’s business interests.
Reuben’s estate went through probate in the New Hampshire
courts. He had prepared a will during his final illness—it opened “I Reuben
Hull of Portsmouth in New England being sick and weak in body but of sound and
perfect mind and memory do make this my last will and testament…”
The will lists some of his extensive properties. He leaves
his house, lands, wharf and warehouses to his wife, and asks that additional
properties on the Isle of Shoals be sold, including “houses, stages, boates and
concernes…” with the funds used to support his children.
A detailed inventory and appraisal of his property was
ordered by the probate court. The inventory included, according to third party
accounts:
“dwelling house, brewhouse, garden, warehouses, wharf, one
half of ketch Adventure, one gundelow and several cannoes, one Negro man, one Negro old woman, William Gubbo of Jersey, a servant
(appraised at five pounds”) and a quantity of silver.”
I have not found the actual inventory document in any
official records as of yet, and so I do not know what value was assigned to the
“Negro man” and “Negro old woman.” I can’t find any records that indicate the
two slaves’ responsibilities in Reuben’s home and businesses, or what the
duties of the indentured servant were or how long he was to remain indentured. I
have searched for the name “William Gubbo” on Ancestry, but have found no
records. Without even names for the two slaves, there is no way to find them in
records. Therefore, I have is no way to discover the fate of these three
helpless people following Reuben’s death.
We like to think of slavery as something that happened only
in the southern colonies and states—that the northern states had cleaner hands,
so to speak, when it comes to the slave trade. However, that is a fallacy as
the will and probate documents of Reuben Hull so clearly show. The evils of
slavery were rooted in the very foundation of our nation, and touched every
corner.
Sources:
http://slavenorth.com/newhampshire.htm “Slavery in New Hampshire” page. Accessed 30
May 2020.
A History of the
Ancestors and Descendants of the Reverend Joseph Hull: Immigrant to America in
1635; Phyllis Pankonin Hughes author and publisher. 1983.
The Hull Family
Register : Descendants of Rev. Joseph Hull (1596-1665), The Immigrant : a
reprint and continuation of the Hull family in America compiled by Col. Charles
H. Weygant & Orra Eugene Monnette; Vol. 01
The Hull Family in
America; Charles H Weygant; Dalcassian Publishing Company, Jan 1, 1913.
Pgs.255-256.
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