In about 1728, a young girl was stolen from her home in Africa and brought to Boston, Massachusetts, where she was enslaved by Samuel Terry, who named her “Lucy Terry.” She was around the age of five when she was enslaved by a childless couple, Ebenezer Wells (1691-1758) and his wife Abigail (Barnard) Wells (1692-1772) of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Lucy performed household tasks with and for Mrs. Wells. When she was older she also worked in one of Deerfield’s taverns cooking meals and waiting on customers. Mrs. Wells thought it was important that Lucy receive some education and religious instruction. In 1735, Lucy was baptized and in 1744, she became a full member of the church in Deerfield.
Lucy was about 16 when, on August 25, 1746, Native American warriors attacked a handful of Deerfield residents working in their farm fields. She composed a poem (included below) about the attack that she titled, “The Bars Fight.” It is considered to be the first piece of poetry composed by an African American. Lucy was well known for her storytelling and she recited her poem to those around her for many years. “The Bars Fight” would not appear in print until after she died.
In 1756, Lucy married a free black man named Abijah Prince. They lived in Deerfield on the eastern end of the Wells homelot until after the birth of their 6th child, when they moved to land Abijah owned in Guilford, Vermont. When trouble arose in 1785, with threatening white neighbors, Lucy went to the governor of Vermont for assistance. He ordered the Guilford selectmen to protect the Prince family. When another white neighbor claimed that a portion of the Prince’s land belonged to him, Lucy successfully argued her case in the Vermont Supreme Court. The presiding judge commented that Lucy was more effective at fighting for her land than any lawyer in Vermont. She accomplished this at a time when women did not usually speak out in public or argue cases in court.
According to a family story, one of Lucy’s sons applied to Williams College, which was just opening in 1791, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The college refused to admit him because he was Black. Lucy asked for a special meeting with the leaders of the college and it is said that she spoke to these men for three hours about why her son should be allowed to be a student there. Unfortunately, he was still not permitted to attend the college.
After having accomplished so much and after having fought so doggedly for her family’s rights, this same woman, upon visiting white acquaintances in Deerfield in her later years, refused to dine with them, saying, “No, Missy, no, I know my place.” (Sheldon, George, The History of Deerfield, Vol. II, pg. 905)
Lucy Terry Prince died in Sunderland, Vermont, in 1821, at around the age of 91. She was memorialized by an unusually lengthy obituary published in both a Vermont and a Greenfield, Massachusetts, newspaper, describing her as a remarkable woman possessing “an assemblage of qualities rarely to be found among her sex. Her volubility was exceeded by none, and in general the fluency of her speech captivated all around her and was not destitute of instruction and edification. All considered her a prodigy in conversation. She was much respected among her acquaintance, who treated her with a degree of deference.” (The Vermont Gazette, Bennington, VT., 8/1/1821)
“The Bars Fight”
“August ‘twas the twenty-fifth,
Seventeen hundred forty-six;
The Indians did in ambush lay,
Some very valient men to slay,
The names of whom I’ll not leave out.
Samuel Allen like a hero fout.
And though he was so brave and bold,
His face no more shall we behold.
Eleazer Hawks was killed outright,
Before he had time to fight,—
Before he did the Indians see,
Was shout and killed immediately.
Oliver Amsden he was slain,
Which caused his friends much grief and pain.
Simeon Amsden they found dead,
Not many rods distant from his head.
Adonijah Gillet we do hear
Did lose his life which was so dear.
John Sadler fled across the water,
And thus escaped the dreadful slaughter.
Eunice Allen see the Indians coming,
And hopes to save herself by running,
And had not her petticoats stopped her,
The awful creatures had not catched her,
Nor tommy hawked her on the head,
And left her on the ground for dead.
Young Samuel Allen, Oh lack-a-day!
Was taken and carried to Canada.”
