Memorial Marker Recognizing the Life of a Slave

Hi, my name is John Mills. I am raising funds to support the design, construction and placement of a memorial at Cove Park in Wethersfield, CT to recognize the life and service of a slave named Prince Mortimer.

 

In 1730, a 6 year old child was captured in Guinea, taken from his parents and brought to New England by ship amongst excrement and filth, causing him to acquire a chronic bacterial disease called Yaws. He would suffer through the pain of walnut-sized sores and disfigurement for the rest of his life. He was assigned the name Prince.

 

In the 1750's, Prince was purchased by Phillip Mortimer, a wealthy Irishman starting a rope making business. Prince became a skilled Spinner.

 

During the Revolutionary War, Phillip Mortimer sent Prince.  He said he was servant to officers including George Washington. Many slaves were promised freedom on return, but Prince remained enslaved by Phillip Mortimer on his return.

 

In 1794, Phillip Mortimer died; his will granting Prince (now 70) his freedom. But his son-in-law George Starr contested the will and won. After 64 years in bondage and two reneged promises of freedom, Prince remained enslaved, now servant to George Starr.

 

In 1811, at age 87, Prince was sentenced to life in prison, accused of placing arsenic in George Starr's morning chocolate. He would spend the first 16 years at Connecticut's Newgate prison (considered the worst in America). In 1827, at age 103, he was transported 20 miles to the Wethersfield prison, where he would die 7 years later at age 110. He was buried in the prison cemetery. Wethersfield prison is now the location of Wethersfield's Cove Park; all that remains is a small plaque in far right field of a softball diamond denoting the location of the prison's cemetery, where Prince lies today. A mile away is Wethersfield cemetery; revolutionary war vets still honored. In Middletown, George Starr has an impressive, clean headstone, also still honored.

 

According to "Defenders of Liberty", a book by Lt. Col. Michael Lee Lanning, most black noncombatants of the Revolutionary war received neither wages nor freedom for their support of the Revolution. Owners took their pay as well as returning them to slavery upon completion; little recognized or rewarded for their service. Thus, all that exists is Prince Mortimer's life as described by himself in Richard Phelps 1844 book, along with an attempt to expand upon it by Denis Caron in 2006.

 

Because political paths towards celebrating service require historical documentation from a government that allowed Prince Mortimer to be taken from his parents, infected with Yaws on a slave ship, enslaved for 81 years, promised then rescinded freedom, then incarcerated for 23 years, he has never received any acknowledgement nor recognition that his life mattered.

 

I am looking for us as a nation to recognize our own lack of morality in Prince Mortimers enslavement and the lack of equity in not documenting the service of non-combatant slaves of the American Revolution; thus I'm looking for us to accept and honor the service account of a slave, Prince Mortimer.

 

In working with the city of Wethersfield, CT, they have agreed to honor Prince, but we now need funding to complete the effort. I truly appreciate any donation you can make.