Conway, Massachusetts vital records list the deaths of three children of Scipio Smith, a "black man." One infant, just days old, died in July of 1782, and twins died on January 30, 1793. Scipio and family appear in the 1790 federal census for Conway as "Free White." This is possibly a mistake, or whoever the census taker spoke with might have been light-skinned. Scipio's household contained one male and three females over the age of 16, and two females (no ages given.)
Scipio appears in the account book of Conway resident Calab Sharp (Sharp Calab), who was of mixed African American and Indigenous heritage. He owned and operated a grist mill and a sawmill. Scipio was paid two shillings, 8 pence for a day's work helping to build one of Calab's mills. This might have been in 1779.
Sources Consulted
account book of Calab Sharp, courtesy of Jones Library Special Collections, Amherst, MA