Frank

Bio

Frank and his wife Parthena were enslaved by the Reverend John Williams of Deerfield, Massachusetts, who married them on June 4, 1703. In February of 1704, Deerfield was attacked by French soldiers from Canada with their Indigenous allies. Those killed during the raid included Parthena. More than 100 people were captured, including Frank, and marched to Canada. If his enslavement by the Williams family began by being stolen from Africa, this would have marked the second time Frank had been captured. Reverend Williams, who was also made captive later wrote in his book, The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion, that on the first night of their march, "in their drunken fit" the captors "killed my Negro man." (pg. 14) The reverend's son Stephen, who was also taken, noted in his memoir, What Befell Stephen Williams in his Captivity, that on the first day of their travels "one Englishman ran back to Deerfield, which provoked them much. They told us, that if any more ran away, they would burn the rest. There they slew our negro man." (The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion, pg. 145)