Caesar Robbins
Caesar Robbins was enslaved in Concord until the Revolution, after which he lived on the edge of the Great Field with his wife Catherine, by approval of nearby landowner Humphrey Barrett. Two of their children, Peter Robbins and Susan Robbins Garrison, raised large families here. Caesar Robins’ first house passed out of African Ownership in the end of the 19th century. Efforts are under way...
Read MoreThomas and Jennie Dugan
Thomas Dugan was a self-emancipated slave from Virginia. He was the third former enslaved person to own land in Concord. He and his first wife Catherine had five children. When Catherine died, Thomas married Jennie Parker of Acton, who may have been born in Africa, and after whom Nut Meadow Brook was renamed Jennie Dugan’s Brook, due to her and her husband’s contributions to the...
Read MoreZilpha (or Zipha) White
Formerly an enslaved woman, Zilpah White lived in a one-room house on the common land that bordered Walden Road. She made a living spinning flax into linen fibers. In Walden, Thoreau notes that, like other former enslaved persons, she too was harassed. He describes her living conditions as “somewhat inhumane.” And yet her ability to provide for herself at a time when few if any other...
Read MoreCato and Phyllis Ingraham
When local squire Duncan Ingraham moved to Medford in 1795, his man Cato asked if he could marry a local (currently or formerly) enslaved person named Phyllis and bring her along. Duncan replied that Cato could marry but only if he stayed behind in Concord, severed his ties with his master, and sought no further financial assistance from him. Cato chose Phyllis over a secure financial future and...
Read MoreBrister and Fenda Freeman
After 25 years of enslavement, Brister Freeman became the second former enslaved person to own land in Concord. Brister’s Hill is named after the area where he and another former enslaved person purchased an acre of “old field.” Brister and his wife Fenda, who told fortunes, had three children. Brister worked as a day labororer and endured frequent harassment from locals and...
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