This webpage is dedicated to exploring the stories of Black, Indigenous and People of Color in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells and Arundel. It is a work in progress with new research and resources added often, thanks to dedicated research volunteers and staff. If you have ideas for what should be included, please contact us at info@brickstoremuseum.org.
Free & Enslaved People of Color in Kennebunk Database
This database has been thoroughly researched and painstakingly organized using the limited records that exist documenting the lives of Black, Indigenous and Peoples of Color who lived here in our region up to the end of the 19th century. In some cases, we have been able to use primary resources to tell their personal stories. For others, their lives remain a mystery due to lack of record-keeping at the time. New information is continuously sought and will be updated once vetted. The Brick Store Museum is dedicated to researching the lives and impacts of these individuals.
Research Articles & Highlights
Beyond the BIPOC Database, let’s explore the lives of those listed here. This section will be updated with new stories and research notes thanks to lead researcher Bill Grabin and other guest writers.
Questions? Contact us at info@brickstoremuseum.org
The First Enslaved Person in Arundel
The First Enslaved Person in “Arundel” was paid for by the Town. “In August 1729, the town by their vote dismissed Mr. Eveleth from his relation to them as a Minister, and he ceased preaching. In the beginning of the next year Mr. Thomas Prentice was engaged as a preacher, received a regular call in June, and was ordained in November following. At this time a Church was duly organized.”[1] Prentice was “the first settled minister in town.”[2] This was the town of Arundel, what is now Kennebunkport. More specifically, it was in the settled area that is now Cape […]
Did You Know?
– That the first enslaved person in Arundel (today’s Kennebunkport) was paid for by the Town? In 1734, as part of a compensation negotiation with Reverend Thomas Prentice, they agreed to provide him with a raise of £10 per year, an additional £20 per year for fuel, and £30 for him to purchase a “servant.” – That “a Negro boy Jeffy” was purchased by Deacon Thomas Wells in 1718, and that Jeff continued as an enslaved person for three or four generations of the Wells family? – That in the 1720’s, a community of about 160 Indigenous people lived beside […]
Some Prominent Men of Kennebunk
Here are some examples of how slavery was not uncommon amongst the prominent businessmen of early Wells (which included Kennebunk until 1820). “In 1728, a grant was made, by the ‘proprietors,’ of the old mill lot to Joseph Hill and John Storer, which was laid out and the bounds renewed, “as formerly of three hundred acres of land on the northeast side of the Mousam River, adjoining the river and falls, and one acre on the west side, with all the privileges of the fall and river, which was formerly granted unto Henry Sayward, of York.”……..Hill and Storer built a […]
Historic Maps of the Local Area
The two most complete sets of maps of the area are from 1856 and 1872. Maps of early Wells were included in My Name is Wells by Hope Moody Shelley, a history of Wells that was produced in 2002 to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the incorporation of the town. In his 1913 work The Ancestors and Descendants of Lieutenant Tobias Lord, Charles Edward Lord included two maps. William Barry also drew maps of earlier times. Early Maps of Wells. The maps depicting Wells in 1658 and 1715/16 were drawn by Peter Moody for My Name is Wells, Hope Moody […]
Sheppard Bourn – a Story of Impressment at Sea
Sheppard Bourn was the son of Salem and Peggy. His father Salem (DOB 1755) had been enslaved by John Bourne (1708-1788), the “ancestor of all the Bourne families in Wells and Kennebunk”[1] and a major shipbuilder. “A great many vessels of all sizes were built by him, on the Webhannet, Mousam and Kennebunk Rivers. He continued in the business more than fifty years. Most of his sons were educated to the same profession.”[2] Salem Bourne served in the Revolutionary War in 1778, and married Peg in 1784. Sheppard was born in Wells on May 2, 1787. He was married to […]
A Presidential Pardon
On March 20, 1830, the following statement came forth from the White House: “Whereas it has been represented to me that the American Brig Volant … belonging to Adam Stone and Asa Fairfield, citizens of the United States residing in Kennebunk, State of Maine, has been seized by the Customs House Officers of the United States, at New Orleans in Louisiana, and libeled as forfeited to the United States for a violation of the act of Congress prohibiting the importation of slaves … and whereas it has been made satisfactorily to appear that the said owners are entirely exempt from […]
A Negro Man Jeff, an “Heirloom” to Several Generations of the Wells Family
Thomas Wells (1672-1737) and John Wells (1670-1748) were brothers, and the sons of John Wells. They were prominent citizens of the town of Wells. They both enslaved “servants” and passed this “property” to their heirs. The story of Jeff is particularly notable as it involved several generations of the Wells family. Thomas Wells “was chosen Deacon of the church at Wells, March 3, 1718.”1 Later that year, on October 21st, he purchased “a negro boy named Jeffy” from Nathan Hale for £55. 2 In his 1737 will, Thomas stated “I give & bequeath unto my Dearly beloved Wife Lydia Wells […]