Ralph Way, Sr.

Bio

Until 1722, Ralph had been either enslaved by, or indentured to Samuel Porter (1660-1722) of Hadley, Massachusetts. Following their father's death, Porter's children freed Ralph. He turned to farming and married a woman named Lois. They had at least one child, Ralph, Jr., who was born about 1740. By 1742, Ralph, Sr. was a proprietor in Hadley and had 5.5 acres nearby in what is now North Amherst, and 8.5 acres in what is now Amherst. A 1770 tax valuation shows that father and son lived "below the middle Highway" in Hadley and their property was valued at £48 and 14 shillings. 

In about 1732, according to Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, author of Mr. and Mrs. Prince, Ralph was owed money by a White man and hired an attorney to help him receive what he was due. The man failed to appear in court and Way was awarded part of the money. Years later, both Ralph and his son were in and out of court either being sued or suing. 

Gerzina also states that the Way family lived a comfortable life. Father and son each had houses on Ralph Sr.'s land and annually produced hard cider, about 65 bushels of grain, and 12 tons of hay. 

The marriage to Lois did not last. In October of 1751, the Massachusetts General Court, in a rare decision, granted the couple a divorce because Lois had cheated on her husband with a man named Boston, resulting in a son. Ralph might have remarried.

Ralph and/or his son, Ralph, Jr. appear in the account book of Hadley resident Samuel Gaylord, who was a carpenter. In 1773, he made for one of them a chest of drawers, a cradle, a trunk, and a reel (textile equipment) for a wife. The cradle was probably for Ralph, Jr., who lived nearby.

Sources Consulted 
Mr. & Mrs. Prince, Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, 2008, pp. 52-53, 114-115

History of Hadley, Massachusetts, Sylvester Judd, 1905, pp. 239, 313, 423

History of the Black Population of Amherst, Massachusetts, James Avery Smith, 1999, p. 37