Daniel Arms, Jr. (1719-1784) was a Deerfield, Massachusetts, farmer. Daniel spent his entire life in Deerfield and held the offices of selectman/townsman and town meeting moderator. Around 1757, Daniel Arms purchased Titus (born 1740, baptized 1762) from Samuel Smith of Hatfield, Massachusetts. An account book he kept that was later used by his son Aaron records the family's agricultural activities. It reveals that Daniel frequently hired Titus out to work for family members and other residents. Titus was caught stealing along with other enslaved African Americans in connection with an unsanctioned gathering for which he was publicly flogged. This event may be connected with Titus's confession on May 31, 1767, to the Deerfield Church for "the Sin of Stealing, Lying & diobedience to his Master." Daniel Arms sold Titus in 1771 to Jonathan Taylor of Charlemont, Massachusetts, for 20 shillings. In the mid 18th-century the value typically assigned to an adult enslaved man in that part of Massachusetts was about £100. It is possible that Arms sold Titus to Taylor for such a minimal fee because of the trouble in which he was involved, or because Taylor was his stepbrother.
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