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Home arrow Black History arrow Stories arrow Slaves at the William Pitt Tavern
Slaves at the William Pitt Tavern Print E-mail
Written by Valerie Cunningham   

The Stavers Family and Slavery (consinued)

James and the Stolen Goods 

The Court of sessions Minutes for November 1778 record the conviction of two women -- Sarah Giles and Jane Cooper -- for receiving stolen goods from Stavers' slave, James. On July 31, 1777 James sold to Sarah Giles: 12 gallons rum, 2 bushels corn, 2 bushels salt, 40 lbs pork, and 4 gallons cherry brandy. On November 15, 1777 James stole and relayed to Jane Cooper: 3 gallons rum, 30 lbs salt pork, 1 bushel Indian corn, 1 bushel salt, 1 lb tea, 8 lbs sugar, and one ruffled shirt. All these goods were stolen from James' master John Stavers

Stavers did not charge James with the theft. Instead he charged Sarah Giles and Jane Cooper at the local Justice of the Peace court, Samuel Penhallow (whose saltbox house stood at the south-east corner of today's Court and Pleasant Streets). The value of the stolen goods was high enough that the case was referred to the Court of Sessions in Exeter.

Though separate incidents separated by six month, both women used the same method, threatening James. They

... with Force and Arms did presume
privately to buy and receive of and
from one James a Negro Servant or Slave
belonging to John Stivers of said
Portsmouth, Innholder, knowing him the
said James to be the Servant & Slave of
the said John Stivers, certain Goods,
Wares & Merchandize & Provisions ...

The women entered pleas of innocent, but in a jury found them guilty. They were fined double the value of the stolen goods, and -- in keeping with the procedures of the time -- paid everyone's court costs.

Why James wasn't prosecuted is unclear. He may have convinced Stavers that it was an unwilling and forced theft. It may have been black "invisibility" before the law; this latter interpretation seems likely, since James is not listed among the summoned witnesses.

Why the women made James steal for them is unknown. They were farmer's wives, married to William Giles and Philip Cooper, both yeoman of Portsmouth. Perhaps the chaotic economy of the Revolutionary War created desperate shortages in their homes; perhaps these were compounded by the absences of husbands away at war. Perhaps they were spiteful about Stavers' rumored political stance. Perhaps they were merely dishonest.

How might James have viewed all this? If he was African and had witnessed a court session there, he would have seen a mix of parallels and contrasts in American law . Africans would not have seen American law as founded in family and community obligations like west African justice. Like their arbitrary and unwilling enslavement in an artificial "family" American law might have seemed founded solely in coercion. James' experience -- ignored by the law -- provides an illustration of the paradoxical legal status of enslaved people.

 

 

 

 

 

A Curiosity: Albino Negro

In 1764 an advertisement appeared in the local paper:

To be seen at Mr. John Stavers's,
A White Negro Boy About Nine Years old,
born in Virginia, his Father and Mother
both black, his Wool quite White, his
Eyes and Noses most wonderful to see;
price Six Shillings Old Tenor -- may
be seen any Hour from Six in the Morning,
until Ten at Night. Any gentlemen or
ladies, that have a desire to have him
brought to their Houses, by applying
to the Owner at the Sign of the Earl
of Halifax, shall be duly attended on.

Evidently the child's owner was staying for a while at Stavers' tavern, perhaps making an itinerant living by collecting admission fees. The commercial exploitation of this child's rare appearance occurred in the context of an 18th-century tradition of public entertainments held at taverns. Portsmouth tavern keepers hosted travelling exhibitions, performances, concerts, etc, Stavers mostly in his third-floor "great room." This exhibition -- exploitative in the eyes of modern Americans -- was just another passing curiosity to 18th-century white American society. It was a prelude to the common 19th-century's practice of commercial exhibition of nature in the context of circuses.


Copyright © Valerie Cunningham. Compiled with assistance by Mark Sammons. Published online exclusively by SeacoastNH.com and first online here in 1999.



 

Calendar
Meteors, Meteorites and Comets
May 16, 2008
CONCORD -- Planetarium Educator Bob Veilleux will explain why you can collect meteorites - but not meteors or comets. Learn about these fascinating solar system interlopers, where they come from, how you can see them, and how they are related. See and...

Lighthouse Buffet Dinner
May 16, 2008
The main event this evening will be the American Lighthouse Foundation's first “Lighthouse Trivia Challenge.” This will be a Jeopardy-style competition, complete with buzzers and sound effects. The winners of the early games will compete in a final roun...

Mother Courage
May 16 - 17, 2008
Our mainstage season wraps up in May with the Senior Youth Repertory Company production of Bertolt Brecht’s epic masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children. Through Brecht’s stark vision, the play relentlessly questions the distinctions between war, bu...

Remembering Oney Judge
May 17, 2008
PORTSMOUTH -- In commemoration of the Bicentennial Anniversary Year that ended the legal U.S. Atlantic Slave Trade and Annual Spring Symposium From Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 9 am to 1 pm - Keynote: Cheryl LaRoche describing him life at Presid...

Books & Blooms Sale
May 17, 2008
BRENTWOOD -- Our Annual Books & Blooms Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 17th from 9 - 11:30 am! Come to the Mary Bartlett Library, 22 Dalton Road in Brentwood, to purchase lots of books for little money - and purchase great plants at great prices. Pl...

Lighthouse Cruise
May 17, 2008
Lighthouse cruise from Portsmouth aboard the Thomas Laighton, sponsored by the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company. This cruise will leave from the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company dock at 315 Market Street in Portsmouth, across from the Sheraton Harbors...

American Lighthouse Foundation Annual Dinner
May 17, 2008
Portsmouth Elks Lodge, 500 Jones Ave., Portsmouth, NH. Buffet dinner featuring garden salad, baked stuffed haddock, chicken breast with fruit glaze, roast beef, and more. The featured speaker at the dinner will be Chris Mills, author, former lighthous...

2nd Portsmouth Peace Treaty Commemorative Concert
May 17, 2008
Seacoast Wind Ensemble presents “Peace & The Presidency: Music for Washington, Lincoln & Theodore Roosevelt” featuring Aaron Copeland's "Lincoln Portrait" narrated by Phillips Exeter Chaplain Robert Thompson. At The Music Hall. In 1905, diplo...

Free Gaelic Football Clinic
May 18, 2008
Gaelic Football is a FUN, fast moving high scoring game that incorporates the skills used in playing soccer and basketball. When- Sunday, May 18th, 2008 Where- Stevens Field-Stratham, NH Ages- 5-12-Boys & Girls Cost- FREE!! Prior Expe...

Mother Courage and Her Children
May 18, 2008
Our mainstage season wraps up in May with the Senior Youth Repertory Company production of Bertolt Brecht’s epic masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children. Through Brecht’s stark vision, the play relentlessly questions the distinctions between war, bu...

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