From Gen. Wooster Was Killed When the British Burned Danbury in 1777; Now Students Learn about an Enslaved Man Who Died As Well
Ned was enslaved by a Redding man named Samuel Smith, who had “hired him out to a family in Danbury” — and that’s why Ned was there when British soldiers raided the city on April 26, 1777, Bazemore said.
“As the British were coming through Danbury, they encountered Ned and several other people, and Ned lost his life in that fight,” Bazemore said.
Ned was killed at the home of Maj. Daniel Starr after he and a few other men reportedly opened fire on British troops from inside the residence….
“The challenge with this type of project is that there’s only records when people have a stake in producing the information,” she said. “The reason why we were able to get information on Ned was because the Smith family wanted to be paid for their loss of property.”
In addition to probate and other records kept by the Smith family, Bazemore said the students looked at court testimony related to a petition the family filed for reimbursement of “lost property” after Ned’s death.
