Slavery During Dartmouth’s Founding and Early Years
Stories of the founding of Dartmouth College often depict Eleazar Wheelock braving the wilderness as a pious pioneer of education. He had begun Christianizing indigenous people years earlier at the Moor’s Charity School in Connecticut, but he established the College in Hanover to educate “English youth and any others.” Dartmouth lore states that in August 1770, Wheelock arrived in New Hampshire with his students and several slaves. However, College Archivist Peter Carini has discovered that Wheelock owned at least nineteen enslaved persons during his lifetime. Their labors supported the well-being of President Wheelock’s family and his students and contributed to the maintenance of his home and the school’s buildings. Enslaved persons cleared trees, swept buildings, drove oxen, prepared meals, and cared for the sick. Enslaved as well as free people of color lived and worked in other Hanover households and businesses. In the historical records, we see glimpses of their loyalty to family members, their religious devotion, and their personal flaws. Slavery and the enslaved remained a part of campus life and in the North through the Civil War.
Portrait of Eleazar Wheelock. Iconography 1647
Eleazar Wheelock (1711-1779) was a Congregational minister and educator who moved from Lebanon, Connecticut to New Hampshire in order to found Dartmouth College in 1769.
Excerpt from the Dartmouth College Charter, 1769. MS 769663
“AND further that the generous Contributors to the support of this design of spreading the knowledge of the only true God and Saviour among the American Savages, may, from time to time, be satisfied that their liberalities are faithfully disposed of, in the best manner, for that purpose, and that others may, in future time, be encouraged in the exercise of the like liberality, for promoting the same pious design”
The Arrival of Wheelock’s Family and Supplies, and his Enslaved
Reactions or views of Exeter’s and Brister’s toward resettling in Hanover: this letter from Jabez Bingham to Eleazar Wheelock details how Wheelock's family would soon leave for Hanover with supplies. Bingham mentions that the enslaved man Exeter refuses to leave without Peggy.
Eleazar Wheelock's Account Book
Eleazar Wheelock’s personal account book, showing debts and credits for services and goods. These pages detail instances of Wheelock “renting” out enslaved men to perform a variety of labor for others. For example on he rents out his enslaved men Elijah and Fortune for half a day pulling turnips and the enslaved man Bill is rented out to assist with killing hogs.
Samson Occom to Eleazar Wheelock, Lebanon, Connecticut, October 4, 1765. DC Hist Mss 765554.2
This 1765 letter from Samson Occom to Eleazar Wheelock discussing the terms of lending him a negro and an oxen to help with his business provides further evidence that Wheelock used his slaves for hard labor.
Eleazar Wheelock to Asa Foot, Dartmouth College, January 28, 1776. MS 776128
Letter from Eleazar Wheelock to Capt. Asa Foot. concerning the purchase of two items—a wheel of cheese and a "negro." Wheelock writes "as to the Negro, I don’t know when I shall be able to pay for him.”
Warrant for the Arrest of Caesar, Hanover, NH, February 3, 1773. MS 773156.2
Caesar, one of Wheelock’s slaves, allegedly defamed the character of a white servant named Mary Sleeper. Following his conviction, more than 30 college and townspeople, plus students of Dartmouth and Moor’s signed a bond vouching for his future good behavior.
Eleazar Wheelock, Will, Hanover, NH, March 2, 1779. MS 779252.6
Eleazar Wheelock’s property and interests were left to his son and second president of Dartmouth, John Wheelock, including his slaves. According to his will, his slaves would be emancipated according to the condition of their moral character, marriage, and age of service.
Narrative of Phebe Ann Jacobs
Dartmouth College's second president, John Wheelock, married Maria Suhm, a granddaughter of Christian Suhm, the Danish governor of St. Thomas and an owner of many slaves. Young Phebe, an enslaved African American, was a wedding gift to Wheelock’s new wife. Phebe was later gifted to their daughter Maria when she married Reverend William Allen, who became president of Bowdoin College. Phebe is mentioned several times in family correspondence, and this narrative details her exemplary Christian life in Brunswick, ME.
The Last Will and Testament of John Wheelock. MS-934 Box 1, folder 7
John Wheelock’s will set out the requirements for the emancipation of three slaves. It entrusted for them money and land, once conditions of marriage and terms of service had been met.
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