Peter Wells

Bio

According to the History of the Town of Ashfield (Frederick G. Howes and Rev. Dr. Thomas Shepard, 1834) Peter was captured from Guinea, Africa, when he was about seven years old. He was enslaved by a man named Bartlett, who lived in Connecticut. The following story is told of Peter's "acquisition" of his wife, Sue (Susy):

Peter asked Sue's master what he would take for her. The master says, "You can take her and pay me what you are a mind to, something to answer the law." Peter took her and paid two coppers. (p. 142)

Soon after, the couple moved to Ashfield, Massachusetts, where Peter bought a houselot on a hill. The couple had three childen- Jupeter (Jube), birthdate unknown; Sukey, born in 1781; and Nancy, born in 1783.

Something of Peter's character can be learned from the following quotes from the History of the Town of Ashfield, pp 142 & 143:

Sue was a good cook and a great scold. She would say of Peter, 'Poor cretur, without a head.' When soundly berated, Peter would sometimes say, 'I didn't give but two coppers for ye, and ye ain't wuth that. 

One fall, hay being scarce, Esq. White advised him to sell his steers; so he proposed to Dr. Smith to buy them. On being asked the price he said, "Esq. White says they are worth $60, but thinks I'd better sell 'em for $50 than keep 'em." The doctor got the steers for $50.

Sue died on September 26, 1828, at about the age of 85. In his old age, Peter became a ward of the town and his land was sold to cover the cost of his care. One of the owners named the lot "Peter Hill" and it still retains that name.

Peter fought briefly in the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). He served as a private for two days, October 28 and 29, 1780, in Capt. William Douglas' Co., Col. Benjamin Simonds' Berkshire Co. Regt. He is buried in an unmarked grave in Ashfield's Northwest Cemetery, where he is also remembered on a monument to the town's soldiers. His entry there reads:

Peter Wells,
Died July 1829, aged 95 years, colored man brought
from Africa and held a slave until the Royal Government ended.