John Sheldon (1658-1733) enslaved George after relocating permanently from Deerfield, Massachusetts, to Hartford, Connecticut, in about 1708. A probate inventory taken after Sheldon's death in 1733 death reveals that Sheldon enslaved six people in addition to George after he left Deerfield: Coffee and his wife and child, George, Coffee, Robbin, and Sue. In his will dated 1726, Sheldon does not include George but specified, "I give to my wife my negro boy named Coffe during her widowhood, then to return to my son John Sheldon or to my daughter Abigail Sheldon, to which their mother shall please to give it." (A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, Hartford District 1729-1750. Vol. III. n.p., 1906. (A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, Hartford District, 1729-1750, Vol. III. n.p. 1906; an online database may be accessed via ancestry.com.)