by Barbara Rimkunas
This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, February 25, 2022.
In researching Exeter’s Black heritage, one of the most consistent frustrations is that we do not often hear the words of the people we’re researching. White families not only leave a paper trail of registered births, baptisms, marriages, land deeds, census records and death (with marked graves), but also letters, diaries, and obituaries. The social status of Black New England families left most of the paper trail blank. Exeter’s 1800 census, for instance, has only the first names of all but two Black residents – leaving us to guess whether “Hannah, ditto (negro)” is Hannah Merrill or another woman named Hannah. Sometimes, we must look in awkward places to hear the voices of the past.
One such awkward place is in the records of the Overseers of the Poor. In 1842, the people living at the poor house were required to explain whether they really, really needed to be supported by the town. They were deposed at the town farm by a team of Justices of the Peace – including Amos Tuck. Because they were required to explain that there were no family members who could lend aid, we can read – in their own words – the stories of births, parents and hardships that may have led them to the doors of the alms house. “I, George Wallis, now a pauper on the town farm in Exeter, depose that I was born in Gilmanton and was fifty years old on the 14th of January A.D. 1842. My father’s name was Caesar Wallis, and he was brought from beyond the seas at the age of five years, having been born in some foreign country.” Sure, Tuck wrote it down with a bit of legalese (it’s doubtful most people used the word “depose” in common conversation, and it’s a nice, though unnecessary touch, to add “A.D.” to the date, given that no one would reasonably think Mr. Wallis was born “B.C.”), but we are getting Wallis’s story as he knew it. His father was brought to New Hampshire either directly from Africa or from one of the many slave islands of the West Indies. His life must have been hellish. “He never possessed any property to my knowledge or paid any tax in any town in the State or elsewhere, and never to my knowledge held any office or had any residence by law in any town.” By not owning property or paying taxes, Caesar Wallis was prevented from participating in public life through any means such as voting. He had no say in town affairs no matter where he lived. “I was married to my present wife, Dolly Pauls, about twenty-four years ago.” Dolly entered the town farm in 1831. At the time of the deposition, she’d been living there eleven years. George joined her there in 1835. They had three children living with them – all born there – Freeman, age 4, Catharine, age 2, and James, 7 months. Dolly stated that she was the daughter of Sarah Phelps and Scipio Pauls and was born in Exeter. Scipio was originally from Pembroke, a fact backed up by the 1790 census. She was deposed twice, to verify some of the information she provided. Amos Tuck had a habit of scribbling a signature onto the depositions he took, giving us the impression that the subject signed the paper. John Kelly’s follow-up interview lets us know that Dolly Pauls Wallis signed with a mark. She could not write.
The Wallis family (later changed to ‘Wallace’) remained at the poor farm, but by 1870, they were no longer supported by the town. Freeman and James were farm workers and Catharine was working as a domestic helper. Benjamin Paul, who was not related to Dolly, was very clear about his origins when explaining his background. “My father was born in Stratham and was the slave of Maj. Benjamin Barker of Stratham in said County and my mother was born in Amesbury in the County of Essex & State of Massachusetts as she has often informed me.” He goes on to say, “I further say I married Elizabeth Hall daughter of Jude Hall and that I and my said wife were both born in said Exeter and being poor was unable to support Benjamin Paul our son who is now about eight or nine years old and being a sickly and deformed child and living with my mother, I having moved to Portsmouth in said County, she and I have been informed applied to the Overseers of the Poor of said Town of Exeter for support of said child, they took him to the Almshouse in Exeter where he still lives.” His wife had been dead about seven years. Archelus Martin needed assistance at the age of sixty-two. “My father was a slave before the Revolutionary War, as I have always understood, and never owned any real estate.” Sophia Cogswell’s early life had been one of constant disruption. She was deposed twice – in 1842 and again ten years later in 1852. Born in Meredith, NH in 1814, she stated, “my mother’s name was Margaret Peters & she died when I was four years old. My mother was not married and had never been married at the time I was born. She was the daughter of Robinson Peters, who was once of this town.” We have located Robinson Peters in Meredith on both the 1790 and 1800 census, although we are unable to locate him in Exeter at any time. After leaving Meredith in her teens, Sophia moved around a lot – Warner, New Ipswich, Concord, Louden and finally Exeter. By 1852, she had five children with her – Lucy Jane, age 23, Augusta Ann, age 18, Arvilla, age 14, George Ellison, age 5 and Loraine, age 2. We lose track of the family in 1860, only to find a thread again in 1863 when ‘George E. Cogswell’ enlists in the Massachusetts 54th regiment, Company D during the Civil War. He lists his mother, Sophia Cogswell of Manchester, NH, as his only dependent. After the battle for Ft. Wagner Morris Island in South Carolina, George was missing in action for two years. He was located only when his death was reported in a prisoner of war camp in Charleston in 1864. His pension was assigned to his mother, Sophia Cogswell, washer woman in Gilford, NH. Eight dollars each month until her death in 1882 would have certainly eased the burden of her hard life.
Barbara Rimkunas is curator of the Exeter Historical Society. Support the Exeter Historical Society by becoming a member! Join online at: www.exeterhistory.org
Image: In her 1842 deposition to the Exeter Overseers of the Poor, Dolly Pauls Wallis signed with her mark.