Pomp (at the Meetinghouse at First Congregational Church)

On August 6th, 1795, an enslaved man named Pomp, who had been arrested for the murder of his master, Charles Furbush, arrived in chains to the meeting house at the First Church of Ipswich to hear a final sermon from Reverend Frisbie. Pomp was sent to the Ipswich gallows later that day and hung for his crime (the gallows were located near where the Clambox now stands). A man who had shared a jail cell with Pomp had recorded his story in the days leading up to his execution. Although we cannot know the accuracy of his cellmate’s recounting, Pomp's story gives us a little insight into the isolated and cruel reality of life as a slave. Pomp was forced to work long hours on his master’s farm. He worked 7 days a week as his request for time off to attend church on Sunday mornings was denied. He goes into detail about how his master intentionally let horses loose in the cornfield that Pomp had just planted, then blamed Pomp for the ruin the horses caused. Although he was locked in his room each night, Pomp made several attempts at escape, but each time he was captured, brought back, and often tied up, whipped and tortured. Although Massachusetts had outlawed slavery between 1780 and 1783, it did not mean that existing slaves were automatically emancipated. Pomp likely had little understanding of the world outside the farm, let alone of his rights or the law. He had probably never been taught to read or write, and he had little to no contact with people other than his master and his master's family. Believing that he would take over the farm and the land upon his master’s death, Pomp thought he was accelerating this fate and ridding himself of the man who treated him with great inhumanity.

Sources:

Andrews, William To Tell a Free Story: The First Century of Afro-American Autobiography, 1760-1865, 1988 (p. 49-50)

Harris, Gordon. "The Dying Confession of Pomp"https://historicipswich.org/2016/12/22/the-dying-confession-of-pomp/

Waters, Thomas Franklin Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1917 (p. 101; 443)