Massachusetts: Jube Savage, 1776

Jube Savage intention of Marriage, June 18, 1771

Lincoln Vital Records

On June 18, 1771, Jube Savage, an enslaved man from Weston, Massachusetts recorded his intention to marry Judith Adams, an enslaved woman from Lincoln Massachusetts.¹ Although living miles apart, Jube and Judith worked to unite their family over the next decade. Jube’s story before 1771 is unclear, however historian Richard Wiggin speculates Jube’s name may indicate he was born in Africa and was enslaved during the mid-18^th century. Wiggin also estimates enslaver Samuel Phillips Savage brought Jube to Weston around 1765 when Savage moved from Boston.² In March of 1776 Jube marched to war as part of Captain John Hartwell’s company of Militia in Col. Eleazer Brooks’ 3^rd Middlesex Regiment. In total, Jube’s first recorded military service during the fortification of Dorchester heights lasted only five days, however after returning to Weston he gained his freedom and continued supporting the continental cause. According to historian Richard C. Wiggin, enslaver Samuel Phillips Savage recorded in his diary on April 27, 1776, “Jubee by my consent, left me.” It is unclear where Jube went after emancipation, however it is possible he spent time with his wife in Lincoln. In late 1776, Jube enlisted for militia service again in Captain John Minot’s company, Colonel Dike’s Regiment. Although records do not appear until December 1776, Richard Wiggin speculates Jube may have enlisted as early as August 1776 when Minot’s company first formed. During this second enlistment Jube’s regiment garrisoned at Dorchester Heights and Jube eventually reenlisted on December 23, 1776 to serve through March 1, 1777.³

When news reached Lincoln of another expedition to dislodge British troops from Rhode Island during the summer of 1778, Jube enlisted again, this time in Capt. Francis Brown’s Company, Col William McIntosh’s Regiment (Brig, Gen. Solomon Lovell’s Brigade of Massachusetts Militia). Although American forces had attempted to push British troops from Rhode Island numerous times, the arrival of a French Fleet aided their resolve. Jube Savage and Captain Francis Brown’s company likely arrived near Newport, Rhode Island by August 20, 1778. During this period, the soldiers helped extend the American siege lines however, when poor weather forced the French fleet to sail away, spirits sunk. On August 28, 1776 Jube’s Militia company likely joined other American forces and pulled back to Butt’s Hill outside of Newport. This movement sparked a British offensive that turned into a fierce battle. At the right end of the American line, the Lincoln militiamen helped fend off numerous British assaults. According to Richard Wiggin, Jube Savage and comrades participated in fighting that helped break the British advance and brought the battle to a halt that evening. The next morning an artillery duel ensued but news of an approaching British fleet and no sign of the French forced the American militia to retreat.⁴

At some point following the Battle of Rhode Island, Jube returned to his wife Judith in Lincoln and in 1779 purchased a small tract of land on the former estate of Lincoln Loyalist Dr. Charles Russell. Over the next few years, Jube built a small house and supplemented his income by boarding those in need. In 1780 Jube boarded a free Black woman named Lucy Oliver at his home, and in 1781 he boarded Jack Farrar, another African-American veteran of the Revolution.⁵ It appears Jube remained in Lincoln for at least another five years, likely long enough for Judith to gain emancipation. Richard Wiggin, speculates Jube and Judith later moved to Temple, New Hampshire where they appeared on the 1790 Federal Census. What happened to Jube afterward remains a mystery.⁶

Author
Jarrad Fuoss

Sources

¹ June 18, 1771~ Intention of marriage between “guba a negro servant of Mr. Sam. Ph. Savage of Weston and gudith a negro servant of Capt. Daniel Adams of Lincoln Lincoln (Mass.). "Vital Records of Lincoln, Mass. 1754-1811." Book. Lincoln, Mass.: The Town, 1754. Digital Commonwealth, https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/c247f329q (accessed February 19, 2021), 71.

² Richard Wiggin, Embattled Farmers: Campaigns and Profiles of Revolutionary Soldiers from Lincoln, Massachusetts, 1775-1783 ( Lincoln: MA, Lincoln Historical Society, 2013)393-394. Wiggin hypothesizes that Jube or his parents were born in Africa and supports this argument by acknowledging that the word “Juba” relates to the Gold Coast name for Monday. In early Lincoln Records town officials use the name guba and Juba, even his enslaver Samuel Phillips Savage references Jubee; later documents consistently record his name as Jube. The early variations of the name could support Wiggin’s argument. Wiggin cites Robert Fitts, Inventing New England’s Slave Paradise: Master/ Slaver Relations in Eighteenth-Century Narragansett, Rhode Island. (New York: Routledge, 1998), Peter Kolchin, American Slavery, 1619-18777. (New York: Hill and Wang, 1993)., and William D. Pierson, Black Yankees: The Development of an Afro-American Subculture in Eighteenth century New England. (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1988).

³ Jube Savage record in Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War: A Compilation From The Archives, Prepared And Published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth In Accordance With Chapter 100, Resolves of 1891. Volume XIII, (Boston: Wright and Potter Printing Co., State Printers, 1896.), 840.; Richard Wiggin, Embattled Farmers: Campaigns and Profiles of Revolutionary Soldiers from Lincoln, Massachusetts, 1775-1783 ( Lincoln: MA, Lincoln Historical Society, 2013) 393-394.

⁴ Jube Savage, Massachusetts Soldiers And Sailors, Vol XIII, pp 840.; Richard Wiggin, Embattled Farmers, 120-126.

⁵ Wiggin mentions this in his work but fails to cite a source. The author has yet to substantiate this claim however, given the confused and poorly organized nature of the treasurer’s records the entry may be in an obscure location.

⁶ U.S. Census Bureau, Temple, New Hampshire, 1790, Ancestry.com; Richard Wiggin, Embattled Farmers, 394; Lincoln (Mass). “The book of the Treasurers accompts[sic] in Lincoln, 1755.” Book 1755. Book. 1755. Digital Commonwealth, https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/wm118w70t (Accessed January 2021), January 22, 1781, July 17, 1781, February 1, 1782, February 1, 1782.