Noah Gomer

Noah Willhoughby Gomer (spelled Gomar in accompanying source) was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, on July 10, 1776. His parents were Quash and Eleanor Smith Gomer. His siblings were named Midar, Tabitha, Catherine, Gomer, Francis, Aaron, Moses, Mary, and Elinor. (It is possible he had an additional sibling who died unnamed as an infant.)

Noah’s father, Quash Gomar, was born in Angola, according to his gravestone, between 1730 and 1732. He was enslaved as a seventeen-year-old in 1748 and brought to the United States, eventually living in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Quash was enslaved in Wethersfield by a man named John Smith. John Smith was also the guardian for a teenage girl named Mary Willhoughby. Mary had a brother named Noah, who was a sailor. Mary and Noah may have had another sibling, since Quash married a woman named Tabitha Willhoughby in Newington, Connecticut on October 9, 1760. She appears to have died soon after (information from the Wethersfield Historical Society).

John Smith hired out Quash during the period he was enslaved. Quash may have also been able to earn money as a fiddler. He saved up £25 and bought his freedom. In the same month, Quash Gomer married Eleanor Smith on November 23, 1766, at Trinity Church in New York City. Noah Willhoughby died shortly before Quash and Elinor’s first son, Midar, was born. The couple named their next child Tabitha, and the one after that Noah Willhoughby, after the deceased sailor.

Noah was indentured to Joseph Hutchens in Northampton and took his freedom in 1795 at 19 years old. This was reported in the Hampshire Gazette as well as other local newspapers when Hutchens advertised his escape in an attempt to have him caught. The advertisement describes him as being 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and says that when he ran away he was wearing brown, thick overalls, a gray waistcoat, a dark red jacket, and a skull cap. We have not been able to locate any further information on Noah Gomer to learn whether or not he was ever caught.