The Anthonys and the Darlings

Among those who lived and worked on Thomas Darling’s farmstead was a large enslaved family, and thanks to the survival of Darling’s personal accounts as well as public and church records, we can trace their experience from being enslaved servants to owning land—indeed, to buying others. Their story is a fascinating account of emancipation in 18th century Connecticut.

When in 1774 the Darlings moved into their new house in Amity Parish (1907 Litchfield Turnpike, Woodbridge) they brought with them, presumably from New Haven, the Anthony family: Timothy, Chloe and at least four children: Hila, age 8; Gad, age 6; Lettice, age 3; and Luke, an infant.

We do not know where the family lived when they were with the Darlings: possibly in the house, presumably in the attic, or elsewhere on the farmstead. We also do not know precisely which jobs they performed as house servants or agricultural laborers, depending upon their age and sex. Timothy, like the other young men who were indentured to Thomas Darling, labored on the farmstead itself or at other places where he could be hired out by Darling to pay a debt or save money: for example, during construction of the house he worked with King Dorman, a freedman and mill owner, to acquire and mill the timber. Chloe and the children presumably helped with household chores and food production.

In 1777 Thomas Darling freed Timothy and Chloe, together with the new baby, Timothy, who had been born that year. Their new status as freemen meant that all three of their subsequent children, Titus, Philemon, and Abraham, were born free, but the older children remained enslaved.

Thus at the time of Thomas Darling’s death in 1790 the Anthony family had at least ten members, but only four of them were Darling’s property and mentioned in his will, which directed “that my Negro servants shall be free at the age of Twenty-five years”. In fact, Darling’s executors sold Hila, Gad, Lettice and Luke in 1791 but, remarkably, it was to their own grandfather, a freedman also named Timothy Anthony, who bought them all for a nominal sum. Final manumission papers exist only for Hila, who had been purchased from her grandfather by her father and was being freed in 1796 after 5 years of service.

The Anthonys illustrate the way emancipation took place in Connecticut: gradually, to avoid causing a shock to the competitive, free labor supply or to what passed at the time for social services. That concern would explain why the children born enslaved were kept in legal bondage to someone until they were old enough to support themselves.

There is more to the story of the Anthonys, continuing into the 19th century when some members of the family owned a house and land in Woodbridge that Timothy Anthony’s father, a freedman, had purchased in 1784. For the full story, as we know it to date, see the National Register of Historic Places Listing, “Darling Family Farmstead and Tavern”, (Update) 2025.