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Peter Faneuil had died in the mean time. The slaves were sold at prices ranging from £40 to £134, and the proceeds divided between Benjamin Faneuil, Peter's heir, John Jones of Boston, who had a one-fourth share in the venture, and George Birchall, who had come to the rescue after the catastrophe in Africa. The list of purchasers includes honorable New England names — Vernon, Tweedy, Brinley, Robinson, Carr and Cranston. The buyer of the highest-priced Negro was "Mr. Chaning," a name intimately associated with the later anti-slavery struggle.1
The part played by Boston in this traffic is not confined to the expeditions of her own traders: much Boston capital was invested in Rhode Island ventures.2 We have an example of this in the middle of the century in the schooner Sierra Leone, which was owned by Boston and Newport merchants.3 The bill of lading, dated June 19, 1754, states that there was shipped in the schooner Sierra Leone, "by God's grace bound for the Coast of Africa: To say, Thirty four hogsheads, Tenn Tierces, Eight barrells & six half barrels Rum, one barrel Sugar, sixty Musketts, six half barrels Powder, one box beads, Three boxes Snuff, Two barrels Tallow, Twenty-one barrels Beef, Pork and Mutton, 14 cwt. I qr. 22 lbs. bread, one barrel mackerel, six shirts, five Jacketts, one piece blue Callico, one piece Chex, one mill, shackles, handcuffs &c." The orders to Captain Lindsay from his "loving owners" direct him to proceed to the coast of Africa and there dispose of his cargo for gold and good slaves; thence he is to go to the Barbadoes and sell his slaves, "if they will fetch Twenty-six pounds Sterling per head round"; if he cannot get this price he is to carry them to St. Vincent and St. Eustatia, and invest the proceeds of the sale in cocoa and molasses; but if neither of these places affords a satisfactory market for the slaves, he is to go to Jamaica and dispose of them on the best terms he can, load his ship with good Muscovado sugar, and "proceed home with all possible Dispatch." In addition to his wages Captain Lindsay was to receive a commission of four slaves out of a hundred and four purchased on the coast, five per cent on the sale of the negroes in the West Indies, and five per cent on the return cargo. Ten months were consumed in the round voyage, which appears to have been a successful one, for one of the Boston owners wrote to his associates in Newport: "Lindsay's arrival is very agreeable to us, & we wish we may never make a worse voyage." One would like to know whether they attributed the success to Captain Lindsay's efficiency, for he was an experienced master of slave vessels, or to the judiciously assorted cargo, or to their prayer, "God send the good Schooner to her desired Port in Safety." Negroes were bought and sold in Boston and advertised freely in newspapers even through the years of the Revolution. In 1761 appeared a notice which has been characterized as "a commingling hash of Satanic civilization and simple, savage nature."4 It announced "A parcel of likely negroes, cheap for cash. Also if any persons have any negro men, strong and hearty, tho' not of the best moral character, which are proper subjects for transportation, may have an exchange for small negroes." Another example is taken from the Independent Chronicle for November 28, 1776: "To Sell — a Hearty likely NEGRO WENCH about 12 or 13 Years of Age, has had the Small Pox, can wash, iron, card and spin, etc., for no other Fault but for want of Employ."5 No general opposition to slavery 2 Ibid., II, 454. 3 Am. Hist. Rec., I, 340, 341. 4 Weeden, II, 763. 5 Moore, Slavery in Massachusetts, p. 178.
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