From Slavery to Freedom

Hezekiah Usher prospered as a bookseller and merchant in Puritan Boston. His son John became involved in the slave trade.

The Ushers were early booksellers and merchants. Ad Meskens — The Ushers were early booksellers and merchants.
*- Ad Meskens*

“

“Come up in the night with them...giving us notice...with what privacy you can and we shall take care for their landing.”

- Instructions for smuggling slaves into Massachusetts, 1681

”

God and Mammon
Hezekiah Usher’s son John (“graceless and grasping” in the words of historian Bernard Bailyn) was an ambitious shipping merchant. In 1679 he suffered a severe financial setback on a trading voyage to Spain. One of his ships was badly damaged, while its rotting cargoes of corn and tobacco went unsold.

Alert to Profit . . .

The Bay Psalm Book . . .

Conspiracy Theorist
Usher saw a way to recoup shipping losses but not without breaking the law. The lucrative slave trade was restricted to the London based Royal African Company from the years 1672 to 1698. Usher and father-in-law John Saffin hired the ship Elizabeth for a secret voyage to Africa. Getting word that the plot was discovered, the conspirators quietly dispatched a second ship to intercept the Elizabeth and transfer its human cargo. The plan succeeded and a smuggling operation was born.

Edgar Allan Poe . . .

The Selling of Joseph
After the Salem Witch Trials Judge Samuel Sewell admitted his errors and began thinking about reform. Angered that John Saffin – the slave trader - had reneged on a promise to free one of his slaves, he wrote The Selling of Joseph, often called the first anti-slavery tract. He refuted Biblical arguments used to justify slavery.

A Painting of Judge Samuel Sewell — *- Judge Samuel Sewell*

From Slavery to Freedom: The House of Usher

Hezekiah Usher prospered as a bookseller and merchant in Puritan Boston. His son John became involved in the slave trade.