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Huntington, Benjamin, 1736-1800 [Oath certifying Cuffee Saunders's purchase to freedom]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00318 Author/Creator: Huntington, Benjamin, 1736-1800 Place Written: Norwich, Connecticut Type: Document signed Date: 30 April 1781 Pagination: 1 p. : docket Height: 32 cm, Width: 20 cm Order a Copy

One document certifying Cuffee Saunders's emanicipation dated April 30, 1781. States that Saunders, who mustered with the enslaved name, Cuffee Wells, enlisted to the Continental Army in May 1777. The document is composed of two oaths attesting to Saunders's freedom. The first stated by John Nutter and Richard Lamb that the bounty owed to Saunders was paid to his enslaver as payment for his freedom. The second statement by Captain Jedediah Hyde of Norwich, whom was Saunders's former commander confirms that it was "always understood that the money that was given to Wells at his Enlistment Purchased his Freedom."

Huntington, Benjamin, 1736-1800
Hyde, Jedediah, 1738-1822
Lamb, Richard, fl. 1781
Nutter, John, fl. 1781
Saunders, Cuffee, fl. 1781

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