GEORGETOWN — The small, stained document is chipped on its edges and weak at its folds, but it represents an important piece of July 4 history concerning an African American man from Georgetown.
Dated July 4, 1776, the document is an arrest warrant for Cuffee Dole, a Revolutionary War soldier buried near the center of Union Cemetery in Georgetown.
Measuring 6 inches by 8 inches and in good condition, the document is being called the "earliest known manuscript of the modern American era concerning an African American" by the New York auction house that is offering it for $68,500.
"It's at the very core of American history," said Bob Snyder, vice president of Cohasco, Inc., in Yonkers, N.Y. "This is something that connects the dots with African American history."
Snyder said it is based on the uniqueness of the 233-year-old piece and its place in African American history. He said to his knowledge there isn't another document inscribed with America's recognized birthday — July 4, 1776 — that pertains to an African American. He decided to sell the document now to coincide with the July 4 holiday.
The warrant accuses Dole of stealing $8 from Abel Dodge of Rowley, presumably a follow soldier, while Dodge slept at the barracks in Cambridge on March 31, 1776.
Much of the information about Dole, who had been a slave before becoming a soldier, comes from a book by Georgetown researcher Christine Comiskey. "A Respectable Man of Color: Beyond the Legend of Cuffee Dole," was printed by the Georgetown Historical Society in 2008.
"Although I found no record of Cuffee Dole or Abel Dodge being involved in the Revolution in 1776, it appears from the above document that they both were," Comiskey writes in her book. "I found no further records of the above case and believe the charges were probably dropped."
She said she wrote the biography of Dole to make people more aware of the African American history in our area.
"People don't give a lot of thought to slavery up here," she said. "It's good to know where we came from."
Comiskey, who researched Dole for hundreds of hours over 18 months for her book, said war records show he served in 1777 and again in 1780.
She describes Dole as a strong, hardworking unmarried farmer and laborer who was devoutly religious. After the Revolutionary War, records show that Dole lived in various places in Essex County before buying 12 acres of land in 1806 for $650 in what is now Georgetown. Comiskey's research revealed that his plot today lies within Lufkins Brook Conservation Area on West Street.
Her 44-page book uses primary sources, such as the warrant, his last will and testament, newspaper articles, war records, church records and land deeds to detail Dole's life from the time he was born in the 1740s until his death in 1816, the date recorded on his gravestone.
Snyder said the document has been for sale since June 22, and that "there have been a few nibbles" on it. He acquired it more than seven years ago for an amount with "multiple zeroes to the right of the number," but would not elaborate.
"Unfortunately and fortunately, with collectibles there is only one of an item. With items like this, they are one of a kind," Snyder said.
"A Respectable Man of Color: Beyond the Legend of Cuffee Dole" by Christine Comiskey sells for $16 at the Georgetown Historical Society, the Georgetown Library and at select area businesses. All proceeds benefit the Georgetown Historical Society.
For more information on the Cuffee Dole historical document dated July 4, 1776, contact Cohasco at 914-476-8500.
Text of warrant:
The arrest warrant for Cuffee Dole dated July 4, 1776, reads:
"To the Sheriff or Marshall of the County of Essex or either of his deputies or either of the Constables of the Town of Rowley in said County or to any or either of them — Greeting. Whereas complaint has this Day been made unto me the subscriber by Abel Dodge of Rowley in said County Cooper against one Cuff Dole a Negro man of the said town of Rowley that the said Cuff did in the night beset after the Thirty First Day of March last by force of arms steel [sic] and take out of Pocket cash belonging to the said Abel as he was sleeping in his Barrack on Prospect Hill in Cambridge one Eight Dollar Bill of the Continental Emission which was the Property of the said Abels. Wherefore you and each of you are hereby required by virtue of the Authority reposed in me the subscriber by the Major ... of the council of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay immediately to apprehend the Body of the said Cuff Dole if he may be found in and present and bring him before me or some other of the justices for the said County of Essex so that he may be ... and further dealt with according us to law and justice it doth ... given under my hand and deed this fourth Day of July AD 1776 Aaron Wood Justice of the Peace."
His gravestone reads:
Cuffee Dole,
a respectable man of colour,
died rejoicing in the Lord
Aug. 17, 1816
Aet. 73
White man turn not away in
disgust, thou art my brother,
like me akin to earth and worms.
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