Slavery was well established throughout Britain’s North American colonies by the 1700s. In New England, they were most concentrated in larger coastal towns but enslaved people also lived in inland communities like Deerfield, a town in rural western Massachusetts. It was common for enslavers like the Reverend Jonathan Ashley (1712-1781) of Deerfield to profit by hiring out enslaved people to work. Ashley enslaved three people: Gin (Jenny) Cole, (c1723-1808), her son Cato, (c1838-1825) and Titus (life dates no longer known). These pages from Ashley’s accounts record the amount and sort of work Titus and Cato performed for the minister’s various trading partners in the 1750s. Gin, Cato, and Titus were among over two dozen enslaved people in this rural western Massachusetts community of about 700 residents. Antislavery sentiments were uncommon before the American Revolution and slavery was legal in every British colony, including Massachusetts. While it may surprise modern Americans that the town’s minister enslaved people, this was an accepted and common practice in the 18th century among clergy, lawyers, and other professional men. Enslaved African Americans made up about four percent of the total population of New England.
Ashley, Reverend Jonathan. Pages from Rev. Jonathan Ashley’s account book. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://staging.americancenturies.org/collection/l00-044/. Accessed on August 24, 2025.
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