Paul cuffe biography death

Their ten children all lived well into their adult years, a remarkable record for that time.

What is paul cuffe famous for

Cuff Slocum bequeathed this farm to his two younger sons, John and Paul, and it remained in their possession for the next half century. But in Paul initiated his seafaring life as a year-old crew member on a whaling voyage to the West Indies leaving management of the farm to his older brother. After again crewing on whaling ships in and and being taken prisoner by the British Navy on the latter voyage and held in a jail in New York harbor for 3 months, Paul took up the challenge of penetrating the British blockade to deliver needed supplies to the residents of Nantucket throughout the rest of the war years.

He lost his small boat and supplies to pirates on at least one occasion but succeeded on many crossings in the dark of moonless nights and, in the process, built up relationships with leading families of Nantucket Quakers, such as William Rotch, Sr. In , Paul, aged 21, and his brother John, 23, joined four free African American friends in petitioning the Massachusetts Legislature to grant them the right to vote.

Paul cuffe accomplishments

That same year, Paul and John were jailed for a few days for not paying town taxes on their property but were rescued by a prominent local citizen, Walter Spooner, who helped negotiate a reasonable settlement. That same year Paul joined forces with his older brother-in-law, Michael Wainer, a Wampanoag who had married his older sister, Mary, in In Paul acquired a small waterfront property on the west bank of the East Branch of the Acoaxet Westport River and he and Michael began building a series of increasingly larger sailing ships that they used to expand their ocean trading business along the East Coast and up into the Canadian Maritime Provinces, and also for fishing voyages to the Grand Banks and whaling voyages throughout the Atlantic Ocean.

In the latter half of the s, realizing the benefits of their successful trading business, both Paul Cuffe and Michael Wainer established permanent residences for their families on nearby properties along the East Branch. Paul built a substantial house next to his shipyard, and Michael Wainer acquired a acre property a quarter mile to the south that had been the homestead of the Eddy family and already contained a sizeable house.

Paul Cuffe became one of the wealthiest persons of color in the United States and he used his wealth to support local activities such as a smallpox hospital, an integrated school and many people in difficulty no matter what their ethnic or racial background. His landholdings and shipbuilding in Westport were extensive and he partnered with the white community as well as with persons of color in Westport and elsewhere.

As Paul Cuffe expanded his commercial dealings around the Atlantic Ocean, he became increasingly engaged with Quaker businessmen and Abolitionist leaders in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and London. The British Abolitionists in particular saw Paul Cuffe, a prominent black entrepreneur and humanitarian, as a potential ally in their efforts to create a successful colony for the freed slaves from both America and England who had already been transported to the African territory of Sierra Leone.

This colony had been established in by England to provide a home for slaves who had sought freedom by taking refuge with British forces during the Revolutionary War.