1685An enslaved man was mentioned in the town records for the first time.People and Communities, African American History

The first page of the Vital Records, 1634-1727 includes an account of a deposition given on April 30, 1685, by William [Haskell] before Samuel Appleton. During his deposition, William [Haskell] an acquaintance of Thomas Smith, said that “he asked about the Negro man which Mr. Emerson bought of him the said Smith, and I this deponent told him the said Smith that the said negro died the next February after he was bought from the said Smith. Replyed that he had lost all and further saith not.” (Gloucester, 1)