Drucilla Prince

first name
Drucilla
last name
Prince
gender
female
birth, death year
1760 , 1854
first, last year in records
1760, 1854
confidence level
confirmed identity
freed status (year freed)
always free (1760)
enslaver(s)
location(s)
Deerfield, MA  
place of origin
Deerfield, MA

Bio

Drucilla, also known as "Cill", was the third of six children born to Abijah and Lucy Terry Prince, both of whom had once been enslaved. The Princes were married in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and all of their children were born there. Sometime after the birth of their last child in 1769, the family moved to Abijah's land in Guilford, Vermont.

When she was in her early 20s, Cill moved back to Deerfield and worked in the tavern of David Hoyt. He also kept a store where she had an account. Some of her purchases included fabric, sewing notions and paying someone to sew for her, shoes and repairs to them, a snuff box, a handkerchief, flour, salt, Indian corn, rum, and molasses. Her work in the tavern covered the costs of most of her purchases. Cill didn't stay longer than about a year in Deerfield. David Hoyt noted in his account book that "Cill Prince went home the twenty first Day Novemr 1783."

By 1790, Drucilla was back in Deerfield, but must not have had a source of income, for on July 19, she was "warned out" of town. In New England, rather than be burdened with the expense of providing for people who could not support themselves, the town administrators ordered them to leave. Drucilla once again returned to her family in Guilford.

The Princes also owned land in Sunderland, Vermont, and after Abijah died in 1794, Drucilla moved there with her mother & some of her siblings. She eventually shared a house with her brother Caesar and sister Duruxa. She never married. As she aged, Cill's eyesight failed and unlike in Deerfield, townspeople in Sunderland cared for her and provided meals and clothing. By 1838, the town was providing for her. Drucilla Prince died a pauper in Sunderland on November 21, 1854, at the age of 94 years. Townspeople provided a shroud and coffin, and they layed her out and buried her. She was the last of the Prince children to die. Drucilla was remembered for her wit and her skill for telling stories, much like her mother.



Primary Source Entries for Drucilla Prince

Entry Source Vol Name Date entry id
Cill Prince David Hoyt Account Book: May 1768-1803 1768 1675
Cill Prince Dr to sundries? David Hoyt Account Book: May 1768-1803 1782 Sep 1678
Cill [?] Prince Dr to handkerchied 5/0 to Sundries Davids Shop 1/7 to an apron 1/0 to a pare of Shoes 7/0to paid Doct Barnard 1/4 [?] to Cash 2/5 to Pare of Stockings 5/5 David Hoyt Day Book 1782 Nov 543
[Cill [?] Prince Dr] to a par of Shoes D Sexton 8/0 David Hoyt Day Book 1783 Jan 844
[Cill [?] Prince Dr] to keeping horses 5 nights 4/4 to bushel of indian corn 3/4 David Hoyt Day Book 1783 Jan 562
[Cill [?] Prince Dr] to Cash and [?ring] [?] [?] Docr Barnard [Lemuel?] 1/7 to bushel of _ Corn 6/0 David Hoyt Day Book 1783 Feb 618
Cill Prince Dr to sundries Shop [Thom s] /8 to Cash pd son & hannah 5/8 to Eight Pounds flour @ /8 5/4 David Hoyt Day Book 1783 Mar 719
[Cill [?] Prince Dr] to Cash /6 to 1/2 bushel Corn 6/0 David Hoyt Day Book 1783 Apr 1 626
Cill [?] Prince Jn [?] / Dr [?] to Checkt Cloath and Cash 3/4 [?] to Cash 3/0 David Hoyt Day Book 1783 May 31 720
[Cill [?] Prince Dr] to sundries Cloath of thred 4/2 to Cash 11/6 All paid David Hoyt Day Book 1783 May 563
[Cill [?] Prince Jn [?] / Dr [?]] to pair of Cloath Shoes 6/0 David Hoyt Day Book 1783 Jun 845
[Cill [?] Prince Jn [?] / Dr [?]] to Cash pd Nab and David 4/6 David Hoyt Day Book 1783 Jul 627
Cill Prince Dr to 5 yards toe Cloath 10/0 to Cash 1/4 David Hoyt Day Book 1783 Aug 718
"Baptized Drusilla daughter to Abijah Prince & Lusy his wife." First Church of Deerfield [MA] Single 1760 Sep 7 1013
.....Drucilla Prince Negro, Cloe a Negro Woman all of Deerfield...... Town of Deerfield, Warnings out of town Box 4 1790 Jul 19 2136
Prince, Drusilla, d. of Abijah and Lucy Deerfield Vital Records to 1850 Births 1760 Aug 7 2045

top of page