On January 23, 1794, shoemaker Zadock Hawks of Deerfield, Massachusetts charged "Lt. Barnard" for a "pair of Shoe for Negro _-5-6." This was most likely Joseph Barnard (1741-1803) the son of the well-to-do Deerfield farmer and trader, Joseph Barnard, Sr. (1717-1785.) Joseph, Jr. served as an first as Ensign, then Lieutenant, and finally Captain in the militia. The shoes Zadock Hawks charged to Barnard's account in 1794 were likely for a free African American in Barnard's household. Slavery was no longer legal in Massachusetts by the end of the 18th century following court decisions by state Supreme Court justices in the early 1780s that slavery was unconstitutional under the Massachusetts Constitution ratified in 1780. It is possible that the person for whom the shoes were made was previously enslaved by the Barnard family.