From The History Is with Us: Remembering New England’s Forgotten Role in Slavery
Drive down Main Street in Old Saybrook and you pass the General William Hart House, a local landmark. The property is owned by the local historical society. Back in the 1760s, William Hart built the stately home with wealth he’d amassed as a merchant trader in the West Indies. He prospered by enabling New England’s slave economy. When we think of slavery in the U.S, we rarely think of the North. But in Connecticut, slavery began in the mid-1600s and did not officially end until 1848. After Hart married, he purchased a child: 7-year old Rose Jackson. Rose’s family would serve the Harts for three generations…. “According to the 1782 census, the number of enslaved people at the time was 50. Furthermore, Rose Jackson was one of the last six slaves to be freed in Connecticut.”
