Colonial Rye was dominated by small-scale agriculture, and many farm families had two to five slaves, according to Rye Historical Society Programming Director Natalie Hofstedt.
“It looks very different from what is taught about southern enslavement on large plantations,” but it was cruel slavery nonetheless, Hofstedt explained.
The plight of enslaved people in Rye was described in a 2013 paper written by Pamela McGuire, a former member of the RHS board and chairwoman of the Rye Revolution 250 Committee.
She wrote: “These documents reveal that slaves in Rye were viewed like any other property — equivalent to cattle, horses, farming utensils, and furniture. They were bought and sold to suit the commercial purposes of their owners, with little thought given to the slave’s well-being or that of his or her family. Slaves had no identity, other than that conferred on them by their owners. They had no family names (except for those of their owners), and their first names were Christian names given to them upon their arrival from Africa or the Caribbean islands. Their education was spotty, confined to religious education in preparation for conversion to Christianity. Although many slaves in the North were treated humanely, cruelty and harsh punishment also abounded. Deep-seated notions of racial inferiority and racial discrimination permeated all aspects of life.”
The Rye Historical Society archives provide glimpses of how slavery permeated Rye 250 years ago.
An ad in a 1774 edition of Rivington’s New York Gazzetter publicizes a $5 reward for the return to his master of “A Negro Man, named Closs.” The classified is printed next to an ad about a stolen horse.
A ledger about the first U.S. Census in 1790 divvies up 123 enslaved people in Rye among 49 families, many of whose names grace local buildings and byways, including Lyon, Purdy, Jay, and Theall. Slaves made up 12.5 percent of Rye’s population at the time.
A group of four small “Witness Stones” has been placed in the garden of The Knapp House in ceremonies over the last few years to honor the memory of enslaved people. The first such installation in 2023 recalls the lives of Rose and Jack, who worked on that property in the 1800s for the Halstead family.
After the Revolution, there were some active abolitionists in Rye. Though he himself had owned slaves, Founding Father John Jay changed his mind about enslavement, joining with Alexander Hamilton in 1785 to found the New York Manumission Society to promote abolition.
In 1860, the Rye African American Cemetery was established as a burial place for Blacks within the Greenwood Union Cemetery on North Street. There, many of the descendants of Rye’s slaves are buried, along with African American veterans of the Civil War. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
A portion of a Revolutionary Rye 250 exhibit at The Square House on Purchase Street this summer will provide insights into the lives of enslaved people in Rye, said Hofstedt.
