The last living slave in New Canaan (and arguably, in Connecticut) was Onesimus Comstock. He was born in New Canaan in 1761, probably to Candace who is listed as a slave of Jonathan Husted in the 1773 Visitation Journal. Onesimus died Nov. 17, 1857.
"Norwalk, August the Ninth Day, in the Year, 1773... Know all men to whom these presents shall come that I, Jonathan Husted, of Brookhaven on Long Island, for the consideration of thirty-nine pounds, New York money, received to my full satisfaction of Sary Comstock and Phebe Comstock, I do bargain, sell and convey unto the above named Sary Comstock and Phebe Comstock, of Norwalk, in the County of Fairfield, one certain negro boy aged nine years the first day of November last named Onesimus, which I, the said Jonathan Husted, do sell for a slave for the term of his life which I do bind myself and my heirs and assigns to warrant secure and defend against all claims and demands whatever."
[Jonathan Husted was a native of New Canaan. As a loyalist during the Revolution, he was forced to flee his home and, leaving his wife behind, he resettled in Brookhaven, N.Y.]
For fifty years Onesimus never missed a Sunday in his pew at the Norwalk Congregational church, riding there with Miss Phebe Comstock, astride one of her horses. In later years, he refused to be freed, and in the 1850 census he declared himself to be a ‘voluntary slave.' At the end of his life, having been comfortably provided for, he returned to New Canaan to live and is buried near his home at the top of Ferris Hill.
According to legend, in 1779 Onesimus watched the burning of Norwalk from his vantage point atop a tree at the farm on Comstock Hill in Norwalk. There are records that he did participate in the Revolution and each year on Memorial Day his grave is decorated with a flag.
"Norwalk, August the Ninth Day, in the Year, 1773... Know all men to whom these presents shall come that I, Jonathan Husted, of Brookhaven on Long Island, for the consideration of thirty-nine pounds, New York money, received to my full satisfaction of Sary Comstock and Phebe Comstock, I do bargain, sell and convey unto the above named Sary Comstock and Phebe Comstock, of Norwalk, in the County of Fairfield, one certain negro boy aged nine years the first day of November last named Onesimus, which I, the said Jonathan Husted, do sell for a slave for the term of his life which I do bind myself and my heirs and assigns to warrant secure and defend against all claims and demands whatever."
[Jonathan Husted was a native of New Canaan. As a loyalist during the Revolution, he was forced to flee his home and, leaving his wife behind, he resettled in Brookhaven, N.Y.]
For fifty years Onesimus never missed a Sunday in his pew at the Norwalk Congregational church, riding there with Miss Phebe Comstock, astride one of her horses. In later years, he refused to be freed, and in the 1850 census he declared himself to be a ‘voluntary slave.' At the end of his life, having been comfortably provided for, he returned to New Canaan to live and is buried near his home at the top of Ferris Hill.
According to legend, in 1779 Onesimus watched the burning of Norwalk from his vantage point atop a tree at the farm on Comstock Hill in Norwalk. There are records that he did participate in the Revolution and each year on Memorial Day his grave is decorated with a flag.
The last living slave in New Canaan (and arguably, in Connecticut) was Onesimus Comstock. He was born in New Canaan in 1761, probably to Candace who is listed as a slave of Jonathan Husted in the 1773 Visitation Journal. Onesimus died Nov. 17, 1857.
"Norwalk, August the Ninth Day, in the Year, 1773... Know all men to whom these presents shall come that I, Jonathan Husted, of Brookhaven on Long Island, for the consideration of thirty-nine pounds, New York money, received to my full satisfaction of Sary Comstock and Phebe Comstock, I do bargain, sell and convey unto the above named Sary Comstock and Phebe Comstock, of Norwalk, in the County of Fairfield, one certain negro boy aged nine years the first day of November last named Onesimus, which I, the said Jonathan Husted, do sell for a slave for the term of his life which I do bind myself and my heirs and assigns to warrant secure and defend against all claims and demands whatever."
[Jonathan Husted was a native of New Canaan. As a loyalist during the Revolution, he was forced to flee his home and, leaving his wife behind, he resettled in Brookhaven, N.Y.]
For fifty years Onesimus never missed a Sunday in his pew at the Norwalk Congregational church, riding there with Miss Phebe Comstock, astride one of her horses. In later years, he refused to be freed, and in the 1850 census he declared himself to be a ‘voluntary slave.' At the end of his life, having been comfortably provided for, he returned to New Canaan to live and is buried near his home at the top of Ferris Hill.
According to legend, in 1779 Onesimus watched the burning of Norwalk from his vantage point atop a tree at the farm on Comstock Hill in Norwalk. There are records that he did participate in the Revolution and each year on Memorial Day his grave is decorated with a flag.
"Norwalk, August the Ninth Day, in the Year, 1773... Know all men to whom these presents shall come that I, Jonathan Husted, of Brookhaven on Long Island, for the consideration of thirty-nine pounds, New York money, received to my full satisfaction of Sary Comstock and Phebe Comstock, I do bargain, sell and convey unto the above named Sary Comstock and Phebe Comstock, of Norwalk, in the County of Fairfield, one certain negro boy aged nine years the first day of November last named Onesimus, which I, the said Jonathan Husted, do sell for a slave for the term of his life which I do bind myself and my heirs and assigns to warrant secure and defend against all claims and demands whatever."
[Jonathan Husted was a native of New Canaan. As a loyalist during the Revolution, he was forced to flee his home and, leaving his wife behind, he resettled in Brookhaven, N.Y.]
For fifty years Onesimus never missed a Sunday in his pew at the Norwalk Congregational church, riding there with Miss Phebe Comstock, astride one of her horses. In later years, he refused to be freed, and in the 1850 census he declared himself to be a ‘voluntary slave.' At the end of his life, having been comfortably provided for, he returned to New Canaan to live and is buried near his home at the top of Ferris Hill.
According to legend, in 1779 Onesimus watched the burning of Norwalk from his vantage point atop a tree at the farm on Comstock Hill in Norwalk. There are records that he did participate in the Revolution and each year on Memorial Day his grave is decorated with a flag.
Gravesite Details
Age 96 yrs., Revolutionary War Flag and Marker
