Chapter 6, page 162-164.
This iron collar and chain are said to have been filed from the neck of a slave who escaped from the Confederacy into Federal territory at Pontchartrain, Louisiana in 1862.
The enslaved man was unshackled by Captain Charles C.G. Thornton, 12th Maine Volunteers.
Primary Sources for Finding Katahdin Chapter 6, Section 1
Item 6644
Item 6355
Chapter 6, page 162.
Slaves were bought and sold here in Maine and throughout New England, as well as in the South. In Maine, slaves usually worked as house servants, and were considered symbols of wealth and social status.
This bill of sale is for a slave who was purchased for 8 pounds by Falmouth resident, Moses Pearson.
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Item 7372
Chapter 6, page 162.
A bill of sale for a slave sold to William Pepperell in 1719. Pepperell was a hero of the French and Indian Wars, and owned several slaves.
The woman being sold is supposed to be delivered, "in good order and well conditioned."
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Item 7486
Chapter 6, page 162-164.
This receipt represents a transaction involving a slave captured by Commodore Prebble of the USS Constitution during a battle off of Tripoli on Dec. 23, 1803.
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Item 9270
Chapter 6, page 162.
In his will, Charles Frost bequeaths three slaves to family members along with his material property.
Slaveowners viewed their slaves as possessions. Slaves were bought, sold, traded and bequeathed, like any other commodity.
Many Maine citizens owned slaves prior to the abolishment of slavery in Massachusetts and Maine in 1783. The flourishing seaports like Kittery and Falmouth (Portland) were natural entry points for ships involved in the slave trade.
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Item 6079
Chapter 6, page 164-165.
Hannah Farmer of Eliot, was a prominent abolitionist and feminist. Her home was a way station on the underground railway.
Item 7345
Chapter 6, page 162-164.
A southern slave owner angrily writes to a deacon in Hallowell about the seizure of one of his wife's slaves during a trip to Maine.
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Item 9216
Chapter 6, page 162-163.
The law firm of Fessenden & Deblois wrote to George Frost Richardson about a case involving the Captian of Richardson's brig, the Porpise.
Captian Cyrus Libby of Scarborough is charged with abetting the slave trade by transporting two 14 year old boys from the coast of Africa to Rio de Jeneiro, Brazil.
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Item 7485
Chapter 6, page 163-164.
The Portland, Maine Anti-Slavery Society constitution declares the Society's mission to end the system of slavery in this country.
This constitution includes signatures of members including Samuel Fessenden and Peleg Wadsworth (the grandfather of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).
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Item 7346
Chapter 6, page 163-164.
The Portland, Maine Anti-Slavery Society requested protection for an anti-slavery meeting in Portland in 1836.
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Item 7483
Invitation to American Anti-Slavery Society anniversary, 1863 / Maine Historical Society
Chapter 6, page 164-165.
Invitation for the thirtieth, or Third Decade, anniversary of the American Anti-slavery society to be held in Boston Dec. 3 & 4, 1863. It was sent along with a note to Samuel Fessenden from William Lloyd Garrison, Nov. 12, 1863.
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Item 6277
Chapter 6, page 164-165.
Established in 1821, the Abyssinian Church, at the corner of Mountfort and Newbury streets in Portland, served as the spititual, geographic and social center for Portland's African-American community.
The Abyssinian was also a part of the Underground Railroad.
Item 9245
Chapter 6, page 164-165.
The founding of Portland's Abyssinian Church is made legal through this document. Reuben Ruby, who was influential in establishing the church, is mentioned. Why did these African-American Mainers want to form a church of their own?
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Item 5535
Chapter 6, page 166-168.
Neal Dow, a Portland, Maine native, was born to a Quaker family. He believed in the temperance movement, and during his tenure as Mayor of Portland convinced the Maine legislature to enact Prohibition in 1851.
Item 7487
Chapter 6, page 166-168.
The constitution of the Portland Association for the Promotion of Temperance lays out their opposition to the evils of alcohol abuse and describes the founding of the society. Like many temperance or abolition societies, this one emerged from citizen involvement and organization.
Neal Dow and Samuel Fessenden's signatures, as well as many others, are on this document.
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