Rebecca, Woman From Africa
Rebecca is the great
grandmother of William A. Martin who was the only African American master of
whaling ships. Born in Guinea in West Africa she was the property of Cornelius
Bassett of Chilmark. She has 2 sons Pero and Cato and a daughter Nancy. At the
time of Cornelius Bassett's death Nancy was 7 and Pero was 18. Both son and
daughter were sold to Joseph Allen of Tisbury. Rebecca may have been granted
her freedom. She was once married to Elisha Amus an "Indian man".
Upon his death he left Rebecca his livestock and his house. She died in 1801,
38 years after her husband.
No comments:
Post a Comment