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Year: 2021

A Brief Bio of Peter Tusco, a “Spanish Indian” of Southington

A Brief Bio of Peter Tusco, a “Spanish Indian” of Southington

AUTHOR: Katherine Hermes Peter Tusco died in Southington, Connecticut in 1767 and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. His origins are not known, but in the probate records, he is identified as a Spanish Indian. He was probably an indigenous person from someplace in the Spanish territories, such as Florida. New England colonists considered Spanish Indians lawful captives under the presumption that they had been enslaved under the laws of New Spain. The desire for captive labor motivated colonial wars…

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A Research Note: The Epidemic of 1724

A Research Note: The Epidemic of 1724

AUTHOR: KATHERINE HERMES On November 5, 1724, an epidemic broke out in Hartford, Connecticut, lasting until February 1, 1725. The sickness killed rich and poor alike. Among the 54 persons who died, it took 27 white men and 19 white women. It took 8 non-whites: two Native men named Peter, three unnamed Indians of unknown sex, and three men of African descent, York, Midway, and Ben. One of the women who died was Mrs. Mary Whiting, the wife of Col….

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Farmington, Connecticut, the Colonization Society, and African American Periodicals

Farmington, Connecticut, the Colonization Society, and African American Periodicals

Phebe Janes lived in Farmington, the wife of Elijah Janes (1758-1823), whom she married in 1791. She was the daughter of Fisher Gay (1735-1776) and Phebe Lewis (1735-1772). She was admitted to the church on Oct. 22, 1837, from Lansingborough, NY. She died at the age of 83 on Jan. 8, 1850. (Connecticut, U.S., Church Record Abstracts, 1630-1920 gives her age as 83.) (US Census, 1840 gives her birth year as 1767.) She was also a benefactor of the American Colonization Society. Phebe Janes left a…

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