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Slavery and Dartmouth College

American Colonization Society membership certificate, signed blank. Madison, James. 01 December 1833. MS 001939

Wheelock and the College's Early Relationship to Slavery

MS-1310, Eleazar Wheelock papers

  • Box 1, Folder 735603 Eleazar Wheelock, 1711-1779, to Stephen Williams, 1693-1782, Springfield, Mass. Wheelock's negro girl is likely to die. He doesn't know when he can come for Betty. Money matters. 1735 Nov 3. Lebanon Crank, a.l.s. 1p.
  • Box 2, Folder 743327 Nat'l Cushman to Eleazar Wheelock. Bill of sale of negro “manservant” named “Fortune.” 1743 May 27. Lebanon.
  • Box 3
    • Folder 749669 Testimony of Abigail English regarding Samuel and Captain Smalley and a pregnant enslaved girl named Phillis. 19 December 1749. Norwich.
    • Folder 749680 Hez. Huntington to Eleazar Wheelock. Report of investigation of enslaved woman who had allegedly libelled Samuel Smalley. 30 Dec. 1749. Norwich.
    • Folder 750117 A statement taken by Hezekiah Huntington from Mrs. Elizabeth Waterman, relating to Captain Dean's enslaved woman, Phyllis. 17 Jan. 1749/50. Norwich, a.d.s. 1p.
  • Box 4
    • Folder 757157 Bill of sale, William Clark to Eleazar Wheelock; for “Ishmael, being a servant for life”
    • Folder 760276 Peter Spencer to Eleazar Wheelock. Bill of sale for an enslaved man named Brister for sixty-five pounds. 26 Apr. 1760. East Haddam, Conn.
  • Box 5
    • Folder 761477 Timothy Kimball and Elisha Wales to Eleazar Wheelock. Bill of sale an enslaved man named Sippy. 1761. Coventry Conn.
    • Folder 762313 Anne Morrison to Eleazar Wheelock, bill of sale for Exeter, Cloe, and Hercules, for the sum of £75. 13 May 1762. Hartford.
  • Box 11, Folder 765554.2 S. Occom to Eleazar Wheelock. Asking the loan of a an enslaved man and a yoke of oxen. 4 Oct. 1765. Chelsey.
  • Box 12, Folder 765605.2 Recommendation by Eleazar Wheelock for the enslaved man Exeter, allowing Exeter to seek a new master for himself and his wife and children. 5 Nov. 1765. Lebanon.
  • Box 17
    • Folder 767674 Noah Baldwin to Eleazar Wheelock, asking if Hagar can go down to the enslaved man Nando's to be cared for. 24 Dec. 1767. Milford.
    • Folder 768168 Cloe's profession of faith written in Wheelock's hand. 18 Feb. 1768. Lebanon.
  • Box 19
    • Folder 768675 B. Bill to Exeter, an order to appear before writer on charge of abuse of his wife. 21 December 1768. Lebanon.
    • Folder 768675.1 B. Bill to Eleazar Wheelock. Is sending summons regarding Exeter's abuse of his wife. 21 December 1768. Lebanon.
    • Folder 769130.1 Colonel Alexander Phelps to Eleazar Wheelock. Bill of sale for an enslaved woman named Dinah. 30 Jan. 1769. (Hebron).
    • Folder 769240.1 Letter from Theodora Phelps to Wheelock asking to borrow an enslaved person, March 1769.
  • Box 20
    • Folder 769365 Jacob Johnson to Eleazar Wheelock, regarding a personal matter and mentions the death of an enslaved man who runs his farm. 15 June 1769. Groton.
    • Folder 769474.2 Eleazar Wheelock to John Wheelock; is going to Albany for his health and taking Brister along as a manservant to wait on him.
  • Box 21, Folder 770165 David Crosby to Eleazar Wheelock. Billy has arrived with Wheelock's horse. 15 February 1770. East Hartford.
  • Box 22, Folder 770505 Jabez Bingham to Eleazar Wheelock. Wheelock's family preparing to set out. Supplies they are bringing: rum, sugar, glass, books, etc. Also mentions that Exeter will not go without Peggy and his things. 5 Sep. 1770. Lebanon.
  • Box 24
    • Folder 771653.1 Gideon Buckingham to Eleazar Wheelock. Regarding hay and keeping of enslaved people Hagar and Nando. 13 Dec 1771. Milford.
    • Folder 772167 Buckingham to Wheelock, regarding the sale of enslaved people Nando and Hagar
  • Box 27
    • Folder 773156.2 Eleazar Wheelock, 1711-1779. Warrant for the arrest of a negro named Caesar, who has defamed the character of a servant named Mary. 1773 Feb 6. Hanover.
    • Folder 773158.3 David Huntington & others. They go bond for the Negro Caesar's good behavior in the future. Signed by many of the members of the School and College, and by many townspeople. 1773 Feb 8. Hanover.
    • Folder 773306 Wheelock to Captain Moses Little, says he will buy enslaved person Ceasar for £20.
  • Box 31, Folder 775157 Wheelock to John Hubbard; agrees to pay Thomas Devine's debt and obtain release from imprisonment. Devine to be indentured to Wheelock. (Devine is likely a white indentured servant, but it is not clear.)
  • Box 32, Folder 775478 Eleazar Wheelock to Gov. Trumbull, writes he has heard the British are trying to get enslaved people in the South to rise. Offers the services of a "mulatto" youth in the School to go among them and prevent a rebellion. One of Wheelock's indigenous students has been robbed by the "regulars." 28 Aug. 1775.
  • Box 33
    • Folder 775673  Eleazar Wheelock to Gideon Buckingham, describes complications with a payment. Offers to give enslaved man Nando 20 acres of land and his freedom if Buckingham's father agrees to send him to Wheelock. Wheelock also suggests that they also send him Hagar (Nando's wife). He believes God is displeased at the family's heirs for allowing Nando to treat his wife as he has.
    • Folder 775680 Capt. Asa Foot to Eleazar Wheelock. Regarding purchase of negro man. 1775 Dec 30. Colchester.
    • Folder 776128 Eleazar Wheelock to Capt. Asa Foot, writes he does not know when he will be able to pay for an enslaved person and a shipment of cheese. Asks Foot's recommendation of Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow as dairymen. Wheelock comments that Foot's son is well-behaved. 28 Jan. 1776.
    • Folder 776226 Eleazar Wheelock to Capt. Asa Foot, offers him £65 for an enslaved person. 1776 Mar 26.
  • Box 34, Folder 777475.2 Jabez Bingham Jr. to Hezekiah Edgerton, about sending an enslaved woman to Hanover to work as a cook. Aug. 25 1777. Salisbury.
  • Box 36, Folder 779252.6     Wheelock's will, which leaves all interest in his enslaved servants to his son John as well as spelling out the conditions under which some enslaved servants will be able to earn their freedom. 2 April 1779.
  • Box 38 Book of Accounts
    • Elijah and Fortune (1754), John English account, p. 27
    • Billy killing his hoggs (1746), Benjamin Collins account, p. 109
    • Occom, p. 114
    • To Bill’s and Fortune’s labor (Avery last entry, ref. to John), p. 120
    • Fortune, p. 129

Mss 786424 “Chloe, Negro of Hanover;” issues a complaint that Andrew Boynton has stolen a shirt off her fence

President Nathan Lord
  • D.C. Hist E449.L654 1860 A letter of inquiry to ministers of the gospel of all denominations on slavery. Nathan Lord. Hanover, Dartmouth Press, 1860.
  • Alumni L884zm Rev. S. McKeen’s review of A letter of inquiry to ministers of the Gospel of all denominations, on slavery, by a Northern Presbyter (Rev. N. Lord, D.D., president of Dartmouth College). Silas McKeen. 1855.
  • D.C. Hist LH1.D3 D282 The Dartmouth Oestrus, July 1855.
  • D.C. Hist E449.L655 A letter to J.M. Conrad, Esq., on slavery. Nathan Lord. Hanover, Dartmouth Press, 1860.
  • Alumni L844L2 A True Picture of Abolition. Nathan Lord. Boston, 1863.
  • MS-510, Lord Family papers Collection primarily documenting Nathan Lord, sixth president of Dartmouth College, his wife, Elizabeth King Lord, their children, and grandchildren. Of note are Nathan Lord’s manuscripts and sermons on slavery as well as correspondence and materials related to his resignation as president of Dartmouth College due to the controversy surrounding his pro-slavery beliefs.
  • Affiliates Files, Lord, Nathan h1821 Summary of slavery compiled by Arthur Hardy Long

See also

The Ties That Bind: Slavery and Dartmouth This exhibit by the students of Prof. Deborah King's Sociology 79.08 “Lest We Forget:  History, Collective Memory and Slavery at Dartmouth” explores the role played by the enslaved people of its first two presidents, and the College and Hanover as a site for the intellectual, moral and political debates surrounding slavery.

Dartmouth & Slavery Project A collaboration between Professor Deborah King and College Archivist Peter Carini critically examining Dartmouth's historical connections to the transatlantic slave trade.

Last updated: October 2021

American Colonization Society membership certificate, signed blank. Madison, James. 01 December 1833. MS 001939

A list of primary sources in Rauner Special Collections Library related to Dartmouth College's relationship with the institution of slavery.

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