Titus

Bio

In 1762, Samuel Smith of Hatfield, Massachusetts sold Titus to Daniel Arms of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Titus was baptized that same year. Arms carefully recorded in his account book the many times he earned money by hiring out his enslaved man to labor for other residents. In 1767, "Titus Negro Confes'd the Sin of Stealing, Lying & disobedience to his Master" before the Deerfield Church. In 1771, Arms sold to Jonathan Taylor of Charlemont, Massachusetts, "one negro man named Titus, aged thirty-one year, for twenty shillings."

Many years later, an Arms descendent shared a community memory of Titus and several other enslaved men "belonging to some of the most respectable people" stealing food and rum and meeting at "some place of resort to cook their meal and enjoy themselves." These gatherings offer a glimpse into a world the enslaved kept hidden from their oppressors. Such meetings were not without risk; in this case Titus and his friends were "without judge or jury sentenced to the whip."

Sources Consulted
A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts, Vol. II, George Sheldon, 1895-96, pp. 896