Phillis

first name
Phillis
last name
gender
female
birth, death year
-- , --
first, last year in records
1753, --
confidence level
confirmed identity
freed status (year freed)
enslaved
enslaver(s)
Williams, Chester; Williams, Sarah Porter;
location(s)
Hadley, MA  
place of origin

Bio

Phillis was first enslaved by the third minister of Hadley, Massachusetts- Chester Williams. On his death in 1753, he gave his wife Sarah "my negro woman Phillis my Cows and Sheep for her own use and Benefit for Ever." The combined value of Phillis, the two hogs, 4 cows, and 22 sheep was £40. (Hampshire County Register of Probate) In 1756, Sarah Williams took Phillis with her when she wed the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, Jr., Hadley's fourth minister.

Sources Consulted

Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts, Robert H. Romer, 2009, pp. 174-175