Lawrence ( at the Whipple House of Ipswich Museum)

Welcome to "Slavery in Ipswich: A Historical Walking Tour" produced by the Ipswich Museum.

On this tour, we will visit 6 spots around Ipswich and connect those places with the people and events that give us a little insight into the lives of enslaved people that lived here.

When we think of slavery, we don't tend to think of the Northeast of the United States. We might even prefer to associate slavery with the large plantations in the American South, and focus instead on the freedom seekers, the Underground Railroad, or the abolitionists that made names for themselves in the north. Here in Massachusetts, slavery was outlawed between 1780 and 1783, about 80 years before the Civil War, becoming one of the first states in the new nation to do so. Prior to that judicial decree, however, slavery was practiced for about 140 years in Massachusetts, and right here in Ipswich.

We begin our tour at the historic Whipple House in the 17th century.

Before there were African slaves in Ipswich, there were Native American slaves. Many of these men, women and children were forced into slavery at the end of King Philip’s war, which was a war fought between colonial militiamen and Native Americans throughout New England between 1675-1678. Some remained here in Ipswich, while others were sent into slavery in the West Indies. The war, which is also known as Metacom’s war, was named after Massasoit’s youngest son. It was devastating to the local Wampanoag population. Hundreds of Wampanoag people, along with their allies, were publicly executed, sold into slavery, and deprived of their land.

It was during this war against the Natives that Capt. John Whipple brought home a Native American boy named Lawrence and kept him as his slave. Unfortunately, we do not know more about this boy.

What sort of work did Lawrence do here? How was he treated? How old was he? These are questions we may never know the answer to.