Pages from Rev. Jonathan Ashley’s account book

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From the collections of PVMA • Digital image © Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. • Image use information


About this item

Slavery was well established throughout Britain’s North American colonies by the 1700’s. Enslaved African Americans made up about four percent of the total population of New England. They were most concentrated in the coastal cities but many lived in inland towns and rural areas as well. When the Reverend Jonathan Ashley (1712-1780) was keeping his account book, the rural town of Deerfield, Massachusetts, had a population of over two dozen enslaved residents. Jonathan Ashley enslaved three – Jenny, Titus, and Cato. These pages from his account book record the amount and sort of work Titus and Cato performed for Ashley’s various trading partners in the 1750s. It might seem surprising that a minister would enslave people but this was an accepted and common practice in the 18th century among clergy, lawyers, and other professional men. Samuel Sewall, who served as a member of the Governor’s Council in Massachusetts from 1691-1725, wrote that African Americans were “poor silly wretches” who could “seldom use their freedom well”. Many Whites viewed them as being eternal children in need of care and guidance from European Americans. What better owners than ministers who could also ensure the salvation of their enslaved peoples’ souls by Christianizing them?

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Details

Item typeAccount book
AuthorAshley, Reverend Jonathan
Date1752–1759
PlaceDeerfield, Massachusetts
TopicCommerce, Business, Trade, Consumerism
African American, Black Life
Slavery, Indenture
EraColonial settlement, 1620–1762
MaterialPaper
Process/FormatHandwriting
Dimension detailsProcess Material: manuscript, paper, ink Height: 15.00 in Width: 6.00 in
Catalog #L00.044
View this item in our curatorial database →
Ashley, Reverend Jonathan. Pages from Rev. Jonathan Ashley’s account book. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l00-044/. Accessed on October 11, 2024.

Please note: Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.