UNH archaeologists believe they found homestead of Black community leader from 1700s
OVER 260 YEARS AGO. MAGICAL, ALMOST REALLY. YOU KNOW, FOR ROUGHLY A YEAR, A TEAM OF FOUR BUILT OF UNH ARCHEOLOGISTS, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY HISTORIANS LOOKED THROUGH DEEDS, PROPERTY AND GENEALOGICAL RECORDS LOOKING FOR KING POMPEII’S HOME AFTER SEEING IT MARKED ON A MAP FROM THE 1800S. IT’S UNCLEAR HOW POMPEII MANSFIELD WAS FREED FROM SLAVERY, BUT HE WOULD BECOME ONE OF THE FIRST BLACK PROPERTY OWNERS IN COLONIAL NEW ENGLAND. HISTORY SHOWS POMPEII HOSTED FREE AND ENSLAVED BLACKS FOR BLACK ELECTION DAY AT HIS HOME. HE WAS ELECTED KING YEAR AFTER YEAR AND WOULD BE CALLED ON TO HANDLE IMPORTANT MATTERS WITHIN THE BLACK COMMUNITY. SIMILAR BLACK ELECTION DAYS WERE ALSO HELD IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. THEIR RESEARCH LED THEM TO THE SAUGUS RIVER AND THEN LYNN, NOW MODERN DAY SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS. WE WENT OUT AND KNOCKED ON THE DOOR OF THE PLACE. WE THOUGHT IT WAS DIGGING THROUGH THE PROPERTY AT THAT HOME. THE LOCATION PRIVATE. AT THIS TIME THEY FOUND THE ORIGINAL FOUNDATION FOUR FEET UNDERGROUND. THERE IT WAS, THIS HAND, HAND BUILT FOUNDATION. AND WHAT WAS SO AMAZING, IT WAS FROM WITH PEBBLES FROM THE RIVER. WHILE IT HAS SUSTAINED DAMAGE OVER THE DECADES, THE TEAM SAYS IT WAS INCREDIBLE TO SEE AN OVERLOOKED PIECE OF HISTORY FINDING IT AND BEING ABLE TO SEE THAT KIND OF MATERIALITY TELLS YOU SOMETHING YOU JUST CAN’T GET IN THE WRITTEN RECORD, ESPECIALLY A RECORD THAT WAS NOT WRITTEN BY KING POMPEII. AND THE HOPE IS TO PARTNER WITH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TO PUT OUT SOME KIND OF HISTORICAL MARKER NEARBY THE HOME TO HIGHLIGHT KING POMPEY’S LIFE AND THE HISTORY OF BLA
UNH archaeologists believe they found homestead of Black community leader from 1700s
Updated: 5:33 PM EDT Jun 26, 2024
The archeologists said they spent months before the dig trying to pinpoint the exact location of where “King” Pompey Mansfield lived more than 260 years ago.
The archeologists said they spent months before the dig trying to pinpoint the exact location of where “King” Pompey Mansfield lived more than 260 years ago.
