The Hebron Historical Society
Hebron, Connecticut
Enjoy Hebron - It's Here To Stay ™
Cesar & Lowis Peters
Donna McCalla
Cesar & Lowis Peters
In 1787, the Reverend Samuel Peters, a former Hebron resident living in England, arranged to have many of his assets sold, including his slaves, to help make financial ends meet. On September 27th of that year, Peters’ Hebron slaves, Cesar and Lowis Peters, and their children were taken forcibly from Hebron by a slave trader and brought to Norwich to be loaded on a ship headed for South Carolina.
Cesar & Lowis’s white neighbors felt that the abduction of their friends was unfair and devised an ingenious scheme to get them back from the slavers. They made up a story that Cesar had stolen some goods from a local tailor and got the local justice of the peace to issue an arrest warrant. They presented the arrest warrant to the slaver, and succeeded in bringing Cesar and Lowis back to Hebron.
This event, one of the most dramatic freedom stories in our state’s history, earned the town of Hebron a designation by The Amistad Committee in 2007 as part of the Connecticut Freedom Trail.
Cesar & Lowis Peters: Articles & Exhibits:
- 1787: the Abduction and Rescue of Cesar & Lowis Peters
- History of Rev. Samuel Peters, his Slaves & Near Abduction
This well researched history of Rev. Peters, his slaves and their attempted abduction was written by F.C. Bissell, Hebron Historian. Mr. Bissell also wrote the history of Hebron’s first 100 years in the report of the Hebron Bicentennial Celebration of 1908.
- Elijah Graves Complaint
- Transcription of Elijah Graves Complaint
- Elihu Marvin Arrest Warrant
- Transcription of Elihu Marvin Arrest Warrant
Depositions given to Connecticut General Assembly in January 1789 in support of Cesar and Lowis's emancipation
In 1789, Cesar & Lowis applied for emancipation from the Connecticut General Assembly, sitting in New Haven at that time. According to the 1789 deposition of David Sutton, their “guardian”, Cesar had been unable to do much work since his rescue, “being badly hurt as I understood by irons being put on his wrists.” The following documents are related to that application.
- Deposition of Elijah Graves – Original Document
- Transcription of Elijah Graves Deposition
- Deposition of Joseph Case – Original Document
- Transcription of Joseph Case Deposition
- Deposition of Patience Graves – Original Document
- Transcription of Patience Graves Deposition
- Hebron Board of Selectmen Resolution of Peters Emancipation Effort – Original Document
- Transcription of Hebron Board of Selectmen Resolution
- Testimony of Silvester Gilbert – Original Document
- Transcription of Silvester Gilbert Testimony
- Testimony of David Sutton – Original Documents
- Transcription of David Sutton Testimony
The Connecticut State Library has just added the lawsuit that Cesar Peters filed against John and Nathaniel Mann in 1789 and 1790. You can view the originals at http://cslib.cdmhost.com/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fp128501coll7, but they are issued page at a time. We've put the two lawsuits in Adobe Acrobat files for easier viewing, and are currently working on transcriptions.
- Cesar Peters vs. John and Nathaniel Mann, November 14, 1789
- Cesar Peters vs. John and Nathaniel Mann, Additional Filing and Responses of Plaintiff and Defendants, March 1790
Cesar Peters' Lawsuit Against John and Nathaniel Mann
- Cesar Peters vs. John and Nathaniel Mann, November 14, 1789 – Original Document
- Transcription of Cesar Peters vs. John & Nathaniel Mann, November 14, 1789, incomplete
- Cesar Peters vs. John and Nathaniel Mann, Additional Filing and Responses of Plaintiff and Defendants, March, 1790 – Original Document
