Paul (Slocum) Cuffe (1759 - 1817)

Born 17 Jan 1759 in Cuttyhunk, Gosnold, Dukes, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Husband of Alice (Abel) Cuffe — married 25 Feb 1783 in Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States

Descendants

Died 7 Sep 1817 at age 58 in Westport, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

Paul (Slocum) Cuffe was a part of the Abolitionist Movement.

Paul (Slocum) Cuffe is Notable.

Paul was a Friend (Quaker)

Paul has Native American ancestors.

Paul Cuffe or Paul Cuffee was a Quaker businessman, sea captain and successful Quaker ship owner, patriot, and abolitionist. He was of Aquinnah Wampanoag and Ashanti descent and helped colonize Sierra Leone. Cuffe built a lucrative shipping empire and established the first racially integrated school in Westport, Massachusetts.^[1]

Paul Cuffe, the seventh of eight children, was born on January 17, 1759, on Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts. He was the youngest son of Coffe (Kofi) Slocum and his wife Ruth Noquochoke Moses. Coffe was an Ashanti slave of Akan heritage. (The Ashanti form of slavery was different from American chattel slavery, in a number of ways. Ashanti slaves had legal rights, could own property, inherit property and marry.)

When Paul was thirteen, his father died and Paul and his brother John took over their father's farm operations. They also supported their mother and several sisters.

When he was 19, Paul's older brother John decided to use a version of his father's first name, Coffe, as his last name. Several of his siblings did the same, but not all. Paul later signed his name on correspondence, deeds, and his will by spelling 'Coffe', with a 'u' instead of an 'o'.

Paul Cuffe sailed on whaling ships, getting a chance to learn navigation. In his journal, he identified as a marineer (mariner). In 1776 after the start of the Revolutionary War, he sailed on a whaler but it was captured by the British. He and the rest of the crew were held as prisoners of war for three months in New York City before being released.

In 1780, at the age of 21, Paul and his brother John Cuffe refused to pay taxes because free blacks did not have the right to vote in Massachusetts. In 1780, they petitioned the council of Bristol County, Massachusetts, to end such taxation without representation, which had been an issue of colonists that led many to the Revolution. The petition was denied, but his suit contributed to the state legislature decision in 1783 to grant voting rights to all free male citizens of the state. Many years later, in 1864, as the Town of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, celebrated its centennial, people noted that ‘‘it was his determined and manly efforts, and his refusal to pay the taxes assessed upon him, on the grounds that he had no voice or vote with his neighbors, that finally secured from the Legislature of Massachusetts equal rights of suffrage for the colored man with the white man.’’

On February 25, 1783, Cuffe married the widow Alice (Abel) Cuffe (1758-1819), widow of James Pequit and daughter of a prominent Wampanoag family on Martha’s Vineyard. Like Cuffe's mother, Alice was a Wampanoag woman. The couple settled first in an "Indian-style" house near Destruction Brook in Dartmouth and later in Westport, Massachusetts, where they raised their seven children:

1. Naomi Cuffe Howard (1783-1810)
2. Mary Cuffe Phelps Knobb (1785-1867)
3. Ruth Cuffe Johnson (1788-1853)
4. Alice Cuffe Cook (1790-1880)
5. Paul Cuffe Jr. (1792-1843)
6. Rhoda Cuffe Eason Taylor (1795-1878)
7. Capt. William Cuffe (1799-1838)

Paul was an American businessman, whaler and abolitionist. A devout Quaker, Cuffe joined the Westport Friends Meeting in 1808. He was an elder and often spoke at the multi-racial Society of Friends Sunday services at the Westport Meeting House and also at other Quaker meetings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1813, he donated half the money for a new meeting house in Westport and oversaw the construction. The building still survives. Few Americans of color were admitted to the Friends Meeting at that time.

He set up, with his own funds, a school in about 1797 near his home on what was known as Drift Way in Westport, Massachusetts. No public school existed in Westport at the time. “Cuff’s School” as it came to be known was open to boys and girls of all races. There is no evidence that any charge was made for attendance. It may well have been the first integrated and co-educational school in America.

Cuffe became involved in the British effort to found a colony in Sierra Leone; to which the British had transported more than 1,000 former slaves originally from America. Some had been enslaved by American Patriots and had sought refuge and freedom behind British lines during the war. After the British were defeated, they took those former slaves first to Nova Scotia and London. Prodded by Black Loyalists such as Thomas Peters, who had agitated for a return to Africa, the British in 1792 offered the Nova Scotia blacks a chance to set up a colony of their own in Sierra Leone, where they resettled. At the urging of leading British abolitionists, in 1810 Cuffe sailed to Sierra Leone to learn about conditions for the settlers and whether he could help them. He concluded that efforts should be made to increase the local production of exportable commodities and develop their own shipping capabilities rather than continuing to export freed slaves. Cuffe sailed to England to meet with members of The African Institution, who were also leading abolitionists. He offered his recommendations to improve the lives of all the people in Sierra Leone. His recommendations were well received in London and he subsequently made two more trips to Sierra Leone to try to implement them.

On his last trip in 1815–16, he transported nine families of free blacks from Massachusetts to Sierra Leone to assist and work with the former slaves and other local residents to develop their economy. Some historians relate Cuffe's work to the "Back to Africa" movement being promoted by the newly organized American Colonization Society. A group made up of both Northerners and Southerners, it was focused on resettling free blacks from the United States to Africa - eventually resulting in development of Liberia. The leaders of the ACS had sought Paul Cuffe's advice and support for their effort. After some hesitation, and given the strong objections by free blacks in Philadelphia and New York City to the ACS proposal, Cuffe chose not to support the ACS. He believed his efforts in providing training, machinery and ships to the people of Africa would enable them to improve their lives and rise in the world.

In early 1817, Cuffe's health deteriorated. He never returned to Africa, and died in Westport on September 7, 1817 (aged 58). His last words were "Let me pass quietly away." Cuffe left an estate with an estimated value of almost $20,000 (equivalent to $470,334.92 in 2022). His will bequeathed property and money to his widow, siblings, children, grandchildren, a poor widow, and the Friends Meeting House in Westport. He is buried in the graveyard behind the Westport Friends Meeting House^[2] and his wife was later buried next to him. A crowd of more than 200 friends, relatives, and admirers gathered for the ceremony and his long-time friend and contemporary, William Rotch Jr., delivered one of the eulogies at the event. The following month, Reverend Peter Williams Jr. offered an extended eulogy at the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in New York.

Legacy and Honors:

1. On January 16, 2009, Congressman Barney Frank inserted extended remarks titled "Paul Cuffe: Voting Rights Pioneer" into the Congressional Record.
2. Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts issued a proclamation honoring the 250th anniversary of the birthday of Paul Cuffe on January 17, 2009 by declaring it Paul Cuffe Day in Massachusetts.
3. The Massachusetts State House and Senate issued citations on January 17, 2009 honoring Paul Cuffe's birth.
4. On September 7, 2017 Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts issued a proclamation honoring the 200th anniversary of Paul Cuffe's death by making that date Paul Cuffe Day in Massachusetts.
5. The Massachusetts House and Senate issued citations on September 7, 2017 honoring the 200th anniversary of Paul Cuffe's death.
6. The New Bedford Whaling Museum opened the Captain Paul Cuffe Park at the corner of Water and Union Streets in 2018.
7. The Paul Cuffe Symposium Committee Inaugurated the Paul Cuffe Heritage Trail celebrating Native American and African American Heritage from New Bedford to Westport on September 7, 2017 which honors Cuffee Slocum, Paul Cuffe, and Michael Wainer.
8. The Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter School for Providence Youth was established in 2001 in Providence, Rhode Island.
9. The Paul Cuffe Math-Science Technology Academy ES was established in 2003 in Chicago, Illinois, replacing the Cuffe Elementary School.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Paul_Cuffe
2. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/182260818/paul-cuffe : accessed 13 July 2022), memorial page for Paul Cuffe (17 Jan 1759–9 Sep 1817), Find a Grave Memorial ID 182260818, citing Friends-Central Cemetery, Westport, Bristol County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by J.Bosworth (contributor 47406424) .

• Cole, David C. (2020, May 12). The Remarkable Story of Cuff Slocum. The Westport Historical Society. online: PaulCuffee.org.
• PaulCuffe.org. Paul Cuffe, a Brief Biography. (2018).
• A Black Colonizationist, Memoir of Captain Paul Cuffee, A Man of Colour: To Which is Subjoined The Epistle of the Society of Sierra Leone in African & etc., title page. York: W. Alexander, 1812 [1817] Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress
• "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZVB-8XN : 15 January 2020), Paul Cuffe, 1759.
• "Massachusetts, Revolutionary War, Index Cards to Muster Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGJ2-QJ3T : 19 February 2021), Cuff, 8 Dec 1776; citing Military Service, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm .
• "United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DG-GC7M : 20 February 2021), Paul Cuffee, 02 Oct 1777; citing 02 Oct 1777, Massachusetts, United States, citing NARA microfilm publication M246. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Services, 1980. FHL microfilm 830,318.
• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCMQ-72Q : 20 May 2022), Paul Cuff, 14 Feb 1783; citing Marriage, Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007010711.
• "United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRZ-GT6 : accessed 14 July 2022), Paul Cuffe, Westport, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States; citing p. 607, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 19; FHL microfilm 205,612.
• "New Jersey Deaths and Burials, 1720-1988", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZH3-B6F : 19 January 2020), Paul Cuffee, 1817.
• Thomas, Lamont D. Paul Cuffe: Black Entrepreneur and Pan-Africanist (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1988), pg 3-5.
• Gross, David (ed.), We Won't Pay!: A Tax Resistance Reader, pp. 115–117.
• Harris, Sheldon. Paul Cuffee: Black America and the African Return (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972), p. 30
• Abigail Mott, Biographical sketches and interesting anecdotes of persons of color (printed and sold by W. Alexander & Son; sold also by Harvey and Darton, W. Phillips, E. Fry, and W. Darton, London; R. Peart, Birmingham; D. F. Gardiner, Dublin, 1826), pp. 31–43 (accessed on Google Books).
• Channing, George A. Early Recollections of Newport, Rhode Island from the year 1793 to 1811, Boston: A. J. Ward and Charles E. Hammett, Jr., 1898. p. 170, Greene, p. 307, and Thomas, p. 118.
• Cuffe, Paul. "The Will of Paul Cuffe." Journal of Negro History vol. 8, no. 2 (April 1923) pp. 230-232. ASALH website. Accessed on February 22, 2016 via JSTOR https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2713613.pdf
• CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks: PAUL CUFFE: VOTING RIGHTS PIONEER https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2009-01-16/pdf/CREC-2009-01-16-pt1-PgE108.pdf
• Ruth Moses profile page https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/ruth-noquochoke-moses-slocum-24-2k7ktt
• David Cole and Betty Slade, https://paulcuffe.org/2022/02/04/captain-paul-cuffes-school-first-school-in-america-open-to-people-of-all-colors/

See Also:

• Wikidata: Item Q3544162, en:Wikipedia