Betty Stevenson
According to the Chaffee Family Genealogy, Betty Stevenson was born in Windsor, CT on August 15, 1791 and, from that moment, enslaved by Dr. Hezekiah Chaffee, Sr. Betty’s mother had been enslaved by Dr. Chaffee, Sr. since before the child’s birth; the exact date of her arrival in Connecticut remains unknown.1
Although Connecticut’s gradual emancipation law allowed for Dr. Chaffee, Sr. to enslave Betty until she turned 25, she became a legally free person at age 19. Dr. Chaffee filed manumission papers with the Town of Windsor and, on March 12, 1810, Windsor’s three selectmen interviewed Betty and certified the grounds for her emancipation. The document notes that Betty “is of a healthy firm constitution, and likely to remain in health.”2 This probably refers to the selectmen’s judgment that Betty could earn a living and would not require public support from the town coffers. The document also notes that Betty signified “her desire to be made free.”3 While this may seem obvious to readers today, this detailed evidence reveals much about the early 19th century. That the manumission process asked an enslaved person to state their desire to be emancipated suggests that those with the power and privilege to grant this freedom did not regard a formerly enslaved person’s freedom equally with their own.
Our research also uncovered a handwritten record of Elizabeth “Betty” Stevens’ January 12, 1815 marriage to Benjamin Frank in the Windsor Church records. We are not certain if this refers to Betty Stevenson or if it does and she was using the last name Stevens at the time.4
1. William H. Chaffee, The Chaffee Genealogy, 1635-1909, New York: The Grafton Press, 1909, 119-120.
2. Windsor, CT Town Land Records, Book 23, Page 347, March 12, 1810.
3. Ibid.
4. First Congregational Church Records, Windsor, CT (1636-1832), Vol. 3, “Marriages”, 233, https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/102446?availability=Family%20History%20Library.
Elizabeth Stevenson Manumission Paper, 1810. Windsor, CT Town Land Records, March 12, 1810