Over 75 people gathered at the Waterford Public Library on Saturday, Nov. 9, to participate in “The REAL History of Enslavement in Our Local Area,” a lively community conversation sponsored by Waterford RISE (Residents for Inclusion and Social Equity) and the library.

Two panelists, Waterford RISE member Paul Helvig and historian Lonnie Braxton, presented their research and then responded to numerous audience questions and comments.

Braxton suggested that slavery appeared to start in Connecticut around 1638, when most of the wealthy people “had at least one slave in their household” — and the numbers only grew: He cited a 1794 census noting that about 10% of the 31,000 people in southeastern Connecticut were enslaved; New London (which at the time included Waterford) counted 522 enslaved people.

Affirming that “slavery was an essential part of Waterford’s economy,” Helvig shared heartbreaking stories of several people who had been enslaved by Waterford landowners — even right in the library’s neighborhood. He presented a recorded list of the property owned by wealthy landowner John Rogers, “including (the enslaved people) James, Abner and Dinah, among his various household items and livestock.”

The list noted the monetary value of the men, but Dinah, “full of infirmities,” was listed as having no value.

With moving clarity, Helvig evoked the callous way Rogers punished one enslaved person, leading him to a lot just east of Great Neck Road where he tied his hands behind his back and blindfolded him and then ordered him to run as Rogers fired a gun at him. The man stumbled over rocks and struck trees as he fled but was eventually killed.

Also on the Rogers estate, Hannah Occuish, a 12-year-old servant to then widow Rogers, was arrested and hanged for murder. Occuish, the child of an Indigenous mother and African-descended father, “was the youngest person to be judicially executed in the United States.”

Another enslaved man named Pluto, who was widely known for his skill as a mower, was forced to compete with another skilled mower — a white man — and pushed so hard to continue that he was eventually driven to his death.

Helvig said that his research revealed that five enslaved people are interred near the intersection of Shore and Goshen roads in the Pleasure Beach area, and as many as 25 north of Lamphere Road, across from Great Neck Country Club. The numbers increase as one looks more widely into Waterford and beyond.

“Slavery,” Helvig concluded, of both Indigenous and African-descended people, “was very much a part of life in our very own town.”

Braxton noted that Indigenous people were enslaved on the East Coast but that plantation owners preferred those of African descent: Indigenous people tended to be unruly, while Africans, who were unaccustomed to the environment, were more easily controlled.

After the presentations, audience members shared their own research and asked questions of the panelists.

One audience member passionately argued that Dinah was “a hero, doing all those chores for all those people,” was surely worth a great deal, and should have been celebrated. Braxton said that, sadly, some enslaved people were eventually given “freedom” when they became elderly and couldn’t care for themselves and owners didn’t want to care for them.

To one woman’s question regarding how we can “pull in people who don’t want to face the fear and anxiety that go with our past,” Braxton encouraged that she lean in: “You have to be consistent and unwavering, and you have to be willing to go down some bumpy roads.”

For information about Waterford RISE and updates on future events, contact wtfdRISE@gmail.com.

Laurie Wolfley is a founding member of RISE. Your Turn is an opportunity to share stories, opinions and photographs. To contribute, email times@theday.com.