This blog post owes a big thank you to Christina Vida, Heather Lodge, the staff of the Windsor Historical Society , and The Loomis Chafee School for their research on Nancy. In addition, Eric Lurie, Research Project Lead for the Fairfield Slavery Project, investigation of Toney Bartram’s life is also commendable. As archives continue to be explored, other stories like Nancy’s will come to light. 

 

In Part II of my article on the Black Loyalists of Fairfield County, CT, I discussed how Toney Bartram (also known as Tony Barton) became a freedom-seeker after fleeing Fairfield County when it was burned down by Loyalists on July 8, 1779. Although Toney’s name does not appear in The Book of Negroes, he escaped with his two daughters, 9-year-old Nancy and 7-year-old Flora. Like many Black Loyalists in British-occupied New York City, Nancy and Flora were kidnapped and faced the brutal threat of re-enslavement. While Flora’s fate remains unknown, Nancy was abducted by a Loyalist sea captain and merchant named Henry Rogers, who attempted to sell her back to her former enslaver. Rogers’ actions flagrantly defied the British government’s certificates of freedom for Black Loyalists.

As a Black Loyalist holding a General Birch Certificate, Toney Bartram exercised his rights as a newly freed citizen of the British Empire by filing a petition to reclaim his daughters. Despite his valiant efforts, he was unsuccessful. In November 1783, Toney boarded the brig Concord bound for Port Mouton, Nova Scotia, tragically leaving his daughters behind.

After enduring numerous hardships and deprivations, Toney was granted land in Tracadie, Nova Scotia, in 1787. According to Lurie, by 1792, nine years after leaving New York, Toney had established himself as a sailmaker in Guysborough.

In the 1871 census for Manchester, Guysborough, Nova Scotia, a 39-year-old woman identified as “African,” named Mary Bartrom, is recorded living with her four daughters—Sarah, Lidia, Sarah (likely an error in recording), and Caroline—as well as her son, James. While Mary’s exact relationship to Toney is unclear—whether she was his daughter or daughter-in-law—the survival of his surname in a region rich with Black Loyalist history is a powerful testament to Toney Bartram’s enduring legacy as a freedom-seeker.

The Burning of Fairfield County, CT on July 7-8, 1779

On July, 8, 1779, under the direction of General William Tryon,  British Loyalists launched an epic assault on the Town of Fairfield, CT, which included parts of today’s Towns of Bridgeport, Westport, and Southport. Tryon’s attack was twofold; he wanted to crush dissent in both New Haven and Fairfield. Soldiers plundered, murdered, raped, and punished residents as they burned the town down. They carted off enslaved people, Free People of Color, and were also welcomed by freedom-seekers who wanted to join their cause. It is in this battle environment, that Toney and his family made a move.

I recently became aware of the phenomenal work the Windsor Historical Society, in conjunction with The Loomis Chaffee School, has done to memorialize a formerly-enslaved, woman named Nancey Toney, who is none other than Toney Bartram’s daughter.

Toney Bartram was married to an enslaved woman named Nanny, though they were owned by different enslavers. Toney was first enslaved by Jeremiah Sherwood of Green Farms, who died in 1777. Afterward, Toney became the property of Sherwood’s neighbor, Job Bartram, from whom he fled in 1779. Nanny, on the other hand, was enslaved by Rev. Andrew Eliot, minister of the First Congregational Church of Fairfield (then known as Christ Church). Just two days after the assault on Fairfield, Rev. Eliot sent his brother a vivid and harrowing account of the events (see pp. 283-84 in a History of Fairfield County, Connecticut)

What became of Toney’s wife, Nanny, remains a mystery. Did she flee with him and later perish? Was she killed during the attack? Was she kidnapped by someone else? Perhaps their children were living with Toney in the Bartram household rather than with Nanny, which may explain why he fled with them.

We do know that Rev. Eliot officiated Toney and Nanny’s marriage on February 25, 1775, at Christ Church. As was customary, the marriage was arranged by their enslavers. At the time, Toney and Nanny were already parents to a son, Toney Jr., baptized on December 2, 1770, and a daughter, Anna (later called Nancy), born on November 27, 1774. Sadly, Toney Jr. may have died from an illness on December 27, 1776. Their daughter Flora was born on June 23, 1776.

Captain Henry Rogers followed through on his grim promise, selling Nancy to Hezekiah Bradley of Greenhill, CT, a cousin by marriage to Jeremiah Sherwood. Bradley then gave Nancy to his daughter, Charlotte, as a wedding gift. When Charlotte married Dr. Hezekiah Chaffee Jr., Nancy moved with the Chaffee household to Windsor, CT. The family lived next door to Hezekiah Chaffee Sr., who owned three enslaved women whom he emancipated in 1810.

However, Nancy was not granted freedom. In his 1818 will, Hezekiah Chaffee Jr. bequeathed Nancy to his daughter, Abigail S. Chaffee Loomis, the wife of Colonel James Loomis. Census records from Windsor in 1810 and 1820 show that Nancy was the only enslaved person documented in the town during that time.

In his book, Historical Sketches, Jabez H. Hayden remembered “Old Nance” this way:

 

In census records from 1830 to 1850, Nancy is listed as a Free Person of Color. However, as Heather Lodge notes, no official record of her emancipation has been found. It’s possible that the Chaffee family “unofficially emancipated” her. Nancy continued to live with the Loomis Chaffee family until her death, performing household and childcare duties.

Abigail S. Loomis Chaffee’s son, Osbert Burr Loomis, later painted A Portrait of Nancy based on a family daguerreotype. Osbert was a young child when Nancy entered the Chaffee household, and it’s likely that he had fond memories of her from his early years.

May the Circle Be Unbroken: What’s in a Name?

It is especially poignant that Nancy chose her father’s first name as her surname. For enslaved and formerly enslaved people, names were often reclaimed or passed down as a way of honoring and preserving the memory of their ancestors. These names served not only as a connection to their roots but also as a source of strength in the face of immense grief and hardship. Although Toney Bartram never reunited with his daughters, I believe their spirits reunited as they transitioned onward. Nancy was a true survivor, having endured the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the cruelties of enslavement. I’m certain her father instilled in her the knowledge that, no matter what, she would always be loved. May they all rest in power!