Elizabeth

Elizabeth was enslaved by Colonel John Stoddard. She was a member of the church in Northampton and was baptized on December 21, 1735. This baptism does not give us an idea of her age, since it may have been an adult baptism. Her baptismal record listed her as “Negro servant to Col. Stoddard” (First Church of Christ Records, section 2, p.2 and p.8). Elizabeth is most probably the person referred to in the 1744 town tax records, which state that “Col. Stoddard” enslaved one person (Northampton Town Papers Whiting Street Fund, Tax Assessors 1703–1884, 1706–1791 Tax Valuations).

John Stoddard died in 1748, and there was an initial probate inventory of his home in 1749 that did not include Elizabeth. Elizabeth was mentioned in a 1758 document that sorted items of Stoddard’s property by type; Elizabeth was included in the section with horses. She was listed as a “Negro maid” among his property to be valued. This document states that her value was 80 pounds. Two of the horses were written as having a higher monetary value than her (John Stoddard Probate Record). After Stoddard’s death, Elizabeth was enslaved by his widow, Prudence Stoddard. Elizabeth was recorded, but not named, in a town census (Trumbull, History of Northampton Massachusetts, vol. 2, p. 328).
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Elizabeth may have died on October 13, 1767, cause unknown. One death record referred to “a negro woman” named Bess (First Church of Christ Records). We think that this is the same Elizabeth who was enslaved by Stoddard, but it has not been entirely confirmed. In her death record and the probate record she was known as Bess and Bes, respectively, but in her baptismal record she was known as Elizabeth.