Nando was enslaved by Eleazar Wheelock and three other men in Connecticut
In December of 1767, a man named Noah Baldwin wrote to Eleazar Wheelock about two enslaved persons named Nando and Hagar. It is the first known mention of Nando, and though his history remains largely unclear, the traces that remain offer a rare view of how certain aspects of enslavement played out in New England.
Nando appears to have been enslaved by Wheelock in partnership with three other men who all shared an interest in some land in Judea (now Washington), in the Colony of Connecticut. In documents that date from 1767 until 1775, a dilemma evolves regarding not only the disposition of the property, but Nando’s care of an enslaved woman named Hagar, who was unwell. By law, enslavers were required to care for those enslaved people who were aged and/or infirm, and the correspondence regarding Nando and his care of Hagar demonstrates not only the surprising amount of agency exercised by Nando, given his enslavement, but the various maneuvers of his enslavers to shake off the expense entailed by Hagar’s incapacity.
“I think God has been displeasd with the family and I think we should do well to consider whether the powers of his providence have not seek a Voice in them in suffring Nando to do as he has done to his wife,” writes Wheelock in a 1775 letter that contains the last known reference to Nando. (Despite this letter, the nature of Nando and Hagar’s relationship remains unclear.) By this time, Nando had spent years frustrating his enslavers by insisting on certain conditions, both in terms of location and compensation, under which his care of Hagar took place. Various propositions are discussed by the enslavers, including relocations from the land in Judea, transfers of ownership, and offers to Nando of land and freedom, both in Connecticut and in Hanover, Province of New Hampshire. The last known attempt to convince Nando to accept an offer of freedom came from Wheelock in the letter of 1775, but Nando, perhaps understanding that he would be on his own with regard to his and Hagar’s care and maintenance, appears to have refused these offers, and his fate after that year remains unknown.