Caesar and his wife, Candace, were married by the Re. Elizur Goodrich in the First Congregational Church of Durham in 1771 “with the permission of [his enslaver] Thomas Camp.” The 1790 Durham Censu lists Caesar and 5 family members. They are the only free non-white people listed in this census.
A property transfer of a house and some land from Caesar to his three sons, Jubal, Jesse, and Jered, was recorded in 1790. Another property transfer from Caesar to Henry Stevens of Wallingford was recorded in 1793.
Caesar Stevenson is listed multiple times as the “Slave Governor/Slave King” in late 1700s and early 1800s. During yearly elections for governor in the 18th century, slaves who came along with their owners would elect a governor for their own community. The first slave governor was elected in Hartford in 1775. This tradition spread, and soon many towns in the area had an elected slave governor, including Durham.
The 1800 census records Caesar and his sons living in Saybrook
