Take a moment to look over this page from top to bottom as you scroll down the page. What clues do you see that tell you what this document is and where it came from? Do you notice anything that stands out to you? Perhaps an entry that is different from the others?
This page comes from the King’s Chapel Register of Baptisms, a bound volume used to record the dates, names, and sponsors of each person baptized at King’s Chapel. This particular page runs from July 1718 through November 1720. While there may be many things that stand out, including the number of infants baptized who are not identified by name, skimming the right column, titled “Infants or Adults” reveals one entry that stands out further: a single adult. On September 21, 1720, the register lists “Richard a Negroe” who is identified as a “Servant of Mr. Fanueil” -- the only adult baptized at the King’s Chapel in the three years seen on this page.
Who was Richard, and what can we learn about his life from this document? From the document itself, we learn that King’s Chapel baptized “Richard a Negroe...Servant of Mr. Faneuil...Adult” on September 21, 1720. Richard is the only person identified as an adult and the only person described with racialized language on the page. In the terminology used in 18th century English, the description of “negro servant” Indicates that Mr. Faneuil enslaved Richard. While no first name is listed, “Mr. Faneuil” likely refers to Peter Faneuil or a family member, a pew holder at King’s Chapel. Peter Faneuil donated the money to construct a town hall and marketplace for Boston, a building which still stands today and bears his name, Faneuil Hall. Faneuil held at least five people in bondage at the time of his death, and Richard may have been one of them. Unfortunately, Richard’s entry in the King’s Chapel Register of Baptisms raises more questions than answers.
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As can often be the case when researching Black history, historians hit roadblocks in the archives. Despite our best efforts, this is the only currently known historical record about Richard. More often than not, as illustrated in this case, Black and Indigenous individuals appear in records about them, rather than written in their own hands or in their own words. The limited documentation and the difficulty of tracking down these histories highlights the necessity of actively and consciously seeking out more information about all those enslaved. Even uncovering a single name or mention of an individual speaks to their existence in history and the humanity their enslavers tried to deny them. Thus, while little is known at this time about Richard and his life in 18th century Boston, it remains important to lift his name from the archives, having been overlooked for centuries.
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