Slavery
Norwich, CT, October 23, 1787
Connecticut Constable Complains of Attempt to Sell Free African American into Slavery
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[SLAVERY.] Mundator Tracy, Autograph Document Signed, Bill of Complaint, October 23, 1787. 2 pp., 8" x 12.5". General toning; small holes on some folds with minimal effect on text.

In response to the attempted kidnapping of free African American Jack Randal from Norwich, Connecticut, local Constable Mundator Tracy (1749-1816) presented this bill of complaint to the Justice of the Peace who ordered the sheriff of neighboring Windham County to arrest James Cam[p]bell and Stanton Campbell (ca. 1761-1825). Deputy Sheriff Lemuel Dorrance (1746-1812) reported that he had arrested Stanton Campbell but was unable to locate James Campbell.

When Stanton Campbell appeared before Justice Huntington on October 29, he requested council and demurred to the complaint of Constable Tracy. After consideration, Huntington decided that ?there ought to be a Trial in this Cause, and that this cause is not determinable by this Court, but is determinable by the County Court.? He required Campbell to post a recognizance of ?60 to ensure his appearance at the next term of the County Court of New London on the fourth Tuesday of November. According to a file note on this document, ?The Delinquent? was ?bound over? to appear at the next term of the New London County Court. The unlocated man may have been Stanton Campbell?s uncle James Campbell (1721-1788).

Complete Transcript
To Benjmain Huntington Jr. Esq of Norwich a Justice of the Peace for New London County Comes Mundator Tracy Constable of sd Norwich & on oath Complains & gives your Worship to understand that James Cambell a transient person & Stanton Campbell of Voluntown in the County of Windham Did in the Town of Norwich in sd County of New London on the 23rd Day of Octr 1787 with a Wicked Base & Corrupt Mind & without Law or Right take Seize & Carry away with fource &arms one Jack Randal a free Man from & out of sd Town of Norwich and Wholly against the Mind & Will of sd Jack & in order to Deprive Sd Jack of His Liberty by Selling Sd Jack for a Slave or to Hold him in Servitude all Which Doings of the Sd Cambells Done & Committed in Sd Norwich as afforesd are a Highhanded Breach of Peace & Contrary to the Laws of this State in Such Case Made & Provided & Pray that Sd Cambells may be apprehended & Dealt with as the Law Directs Dated at Norwich this 23d Day of October 1787
Mundator Tracy Constable
for Witness take
Ebenezer Tracy of Lisbon
& the said Jack & Benjn Jones

[Order:]
To the Sheriff of Windham County his Deputy or to the Constable of Voluntown in sd County of Windham Greeting: By authority of the State of Connecticut you are hereby Commanded fourthwith to arrest the Bodys of the within named James & Stanton if to be found in your Precincts & them Keep & Have to appear Before me the Subscriber as soon as May be at my Dwelling house in Norwich in Sd New London County to answer to the within Complaint & be Dealt with as to Law & Justice may be found to appertain; hereof you may not fail & make Return with your Doing on this Writ as the Law directs Dated at Norwich Octr 23d 1787
Benj. Huntington Junr Justice of Peace

[Sheriff?s Return:]
Voluntown October ye 25th 1787.
Then by Virtue of this Writ I Arrested the Body of the Within Named Stanton Campbell and Read this Writ. With the foregoing Complaint In his Hearing and him the d Campbell Have to appear Before Benjamin Huntington Jur Esqr Justice of Peace for Newlondon County, at his Dwelling House in Norwich on the 29th Day October Instant. agreeable to the foregoin Requisition. I also Made Serch after the Within Named James Campbell but Could Not find him Within my Precincts. Test Leml Dorrance D. Sheriff

Historical Background
Slavery in Connecticut began in the seventeenth century, but the colony prohibited the further importation of slaves in 1774. A decade later, in the wake of the Revolutionary War, the Connecticut General Assembly approved a plan of gradual emancipation by which all slaves born after March 1, 1784, would become free at age 25 for males and age 21 for females.

In 1790, 2,764 enslaved persons remained in Connecticut. The number declined to 951 in 1800, 97 in 1820, 25 in 1830, and 17 in 1840. In 1844, then Governor Roger Sherman Baldwin proposed legislation to end slavery, but the General Assembly did not pass it until it was reintroduced in 1848. That act freed the six remaining slaves in the state.

In 1788, the General Assembly attempted to curb the removal of slaves from the state who would be free when they reached the appropriate age. ?An Act to Prevent the Slave Trade? imposed a fine of ?100 on any person who kidnapped, decoyed, or forcibly carried off any person entitled to their freedom later under the provisions of the 1784 act. A 1792 slave also protected the slaves for life from being exported from the state.

Despite the gradual decline of slavery, kidnapping remained a serious threat for African Americans in Connecticut, especially those in Fairfield County, which was close to New York, where slavery remained fully legal. In 1790, several prominent white men opposed to slavery created the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom and the Relief of Persons Unlawfully Holden in Bondage. Throughout the next decade, the society assisted both free and enslaved African Americans to fight the threat they faced from kidnapping.

Benjamin Huntington Jr. (1736-1801) was born in Norwich in 1736, the son of Isaac Huntington, though he was referred to as Jr. after his uncle Benjamin Huntington (1736-1800), who was a graduate of Yale College and represented Connecticut in the Continental Congress and the First Federal Congress. Benjamin Huntington Jr. succeeded his father and uncle as clerk of the town of Norwich, serving from 1765 to 1801 (with a one-year gap in 1778-1779).

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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8" x 12.5"