Melita was born on August 8, 1786, in either Deerfield or nearby Whately, Massachusetts, to Charles and Rachel Paine. Deerfield vital records notes that she was "Negro." After December 6, 1806, she married Amos Newport, Jr. of nearby Williamsburg. The couple had 10 children born between 1807 and 1831, but only five reached adulthood.
Amos had financial difficulties and did not get along well with others in his community. He was sued four times between 1807 and 1823, and in 1826, he spent two months in jail for criminal assault. He and Melita were having troubles as well. Amos was living in Amherst, Massachusetts by 1844, but it is unknown whether Melita was with him. By 1846, she had taken back her maiden name and purchased a house and orchard on Northampton Rd. in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was the first African American to own land or a home in Amherst and her home stayed in the Newport family for 160 years. Melita filed for divorce in 1856, and was described as a widow in the 1860 census, although Amos was still alive. She conveyed her property to her son, Joseph Wells Newport, in 1861, and sold him the remainder of the property and the house in 1865. She married Spencer Brown of Amherst on Sept. 23, 1866. Melita died two years later and is buried in the West Cemetery in Amherst.
Sources Consulted
"'His Own Proper Negro Slave': Amos Newport & his Descendants in Hatfield, Williamsburg & Amherst", Eric W. Weber, 2014