Caesar Prutt

Bio

Caesar was born in June of 1727, to Arthur and Joan Prutt of Hadley, Massachusetts.  He was one of seven children.  (Town records, 1659-1719, Hadley, Massachusetts. See also James Avery Smith, History of the Black Population of Amherst, Massachusetts (Boston, MA: New England Historic and Genealogical Society, 1999), pp. 110-111.) His parents were enslaved to Reverend Isaac Chauncey and Caesar was inherited by the minister's son, Josiah Chauncey.  According to the 1759 Amherst, Massachusetts tax list, Caesar was worth £20, and by 1770, he was valued at £25. In 1770, Caesar was prosecuted for poaching a deer, for which he paid a hefty fine of £6. (Smith, History of the Black Population of Amherst, Massachusetts, pp. 3, 5.)

While still enslaved, Caesar served in two wars. In 1758, he fought for 45 days in Canada in the French and Indian War (1754-1763). He was a private in Elisha Pomeroy's Co., Col. Israel Williams Regt. He also served from 1775-1776 in the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Although he served in the American army as a patriot (against British rule), his enslaver was a Tory (supporter of England). (Smith, History of the Black Population of Amherst, Massachusetts, p. 5.)

A series of court rulings in the early 1780s by the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that slavery was unconstitutional in the Commonwealth under the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. It is not known when or under what circumstances Caesar may have been emancipated, but by 1803 he was elderly, infirnm, and living in Amherst. In New England towns, before the establishment of poor farms or workhouses, those who could not support themselves might be auctioned off to the lowest bidder. This was called a “vendue”. The winning bidder was paid that amount by the town to house, feed, and clothe the person, and take care of their medical needs. At the town meeting on December 5, 1803, it was:

Voted, that Cesar Prutt, a negro and Town's Pauper, be set-up, at vendue, to the lowest bidder, to be kept, the year insuing with suitable vituals and clothing, and to be returned at the end of the year, as well clothed as he now is. He was accordingly set-up, as aforesaid, and struck-off to Aaron Merrick, he being the lowest bidder, at the Sum of forty one Dollars & fifty Cents, on the conditions above expressed. 

Caesar was auctioned off twice in 1805, first going to Daniel Moody for $48.25, and then going to Joel Kellogg at the end of the year for $51. In 1807, the year that he died, Caesar was auctioned off a final time for $65. He was 80 years old.  He is buried in Amherst in an unmarked grave. 

Military Service

1758; served for the town of Amherst, Massachusetts 

May 8, 1775; Private in Capt. Reuben Dickinson’s Co., Col. Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge’s Regiment; served 3 months & 1 day; in Charlestown, MA July 1775

Sept. 28- Oct. 26, 1775; at Prospect Hill, MA; on an order for a bounty coat or its cash equivalent Oct. 26, 1775

Dec. 1, 1775; private in Capt. James Perry’s Co., 16th Regiment; in hospital

Jan. 1- Apr. 6, 1776; private in Capt. James Perry’s Co., 16th Regiment

Sources Consulted
History of the Town of Amherst, Massachusetts, Edward W. Carpenter & Charles F. Morehouse, 1896, pp. 59, 63, 192, 194, 196

Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts, Robert H. Romer, 2009, pp. 174, 187-193, 234, n109 

History of Hadley, Judd, Sylvester & Lucius Manlius Boltwood, p. 414

History of the Black Population of Amherst, Massachusetts, James Avery Smith, 1999, pp. 3, 5, 7, 10-11, 110

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, V.12, pub. Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1891, p. 670